Land registration in the North and East of Sri Lanka

| by Dr.Rajasingham Narendran

(October 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Many concerns, mostly negative have been raised with reference to the requirement that documents to re-register all lands in the north and east that are privately owned should be submitted by the 20th November’2011. Many construe it as an attempt at land grab by the government. Gajaluxshmi Paramasivam has pointed out elsewhere that it is being done with World Bank support and is an effort at modernizing the land/ property registration system in Sri Lanka. From what I gather the same procedures will also apply to the rest of Sri Lanka.

There has to be re-registration of land as soon as possible. The process has to be fair, objective, quick, transparent and judiciable.

While fraud involving illegal registration of private lands/property and even illegal occupation of state land is a major concern in the island, the land/property related problems are much more serious in the war-affected north and east. This has been pointed out by Ananthasangary, Siddharthan and Sri Tharan at their meeting with the Indian Foreign Secretary. While I question why this issue should concern the Indian Foreign Secretary, I also disagree with the implied reason why this was discussed with him- possible lands grab by the government to promote Sinhala colonization.

The prolonged war, the direct damage resulting from it, multiple displacement of people, extensive migration of people, deaths, the land grab by the LTTE, illegal land transfers done by the LTTE with the connivance officials at the Kachcheries and deliberate destruction of documents in the Kachcheries by the LTTE have resulted not only in the loss of documents, but also much confusion relating to land/property ownership. The system of land registration in the past involved the preservation of documents and registers in the Kachcheries and in the archives at Diyatalawa. Unfortunately, the system of storage is archaic and it will involve a mammoth effort to trace documents and ownership on the scale necessary. The Sri Lankan bureaucracy is not capable of meeting this challenge, considering the magnitude and the acuteness of the problem in the north and east. There is also extensive corruption in land transfers and illegal occupation of land, sponsored by some politicians in nexus with corrupt/spineless sections of the bureaucracy. The Grama Sevakas play a key role in this racket.

There has to be re-registration of land as soon as possible. The process has to be fair, objective, quick, transparent and judiciable. Claims have to be assessed in terms of not only supporting documentation, but also in the case of those who cannot produce the supporting documents, with reasonable investigations and Solomon’s judgements. The need for Solomon’s judgement will be preponderant and hence will be open to much abuse. However, the system has to be sufficiently controlled to minimize corruption and mistakes, and made judiciable to permit legal recourse to those who are aggrieved. Is the system currently available capable of dealing with this efficiently and effectively? Is it capable of fast responses? I do not think so.

The government should create a special mechanism – Task Force or Task Forces- to deal with this issue. There should also be special land courts established in the various areas to deal with /property land related disputes expeditiously. The assumption that most people in the war-affected areas have lost documents relating to their lands should underlie the modus operandi of the Task force. The dead line for applying for re-registration should be extended up to a year. Those who currently occupy disputed lands/ property should be permitted to continue until disputes are resolved. Land/property sales or transfers during a five year period from the appointment of the Task Force, should be subjected to absolute proof of ownership or other special provisions to prevent corruption and fraud, while not constraining legal transactions. The claims on land and property should be handled in a sympathetic manner, as many claimants are poor and relatively uneducated. The bureaucratic arrogance and paper chase tied to it will not be helpful and only create more frustration. The Task Force should function with military precision, decisiveness and efficiency. The approach should be ‘Problem solving’ as fast as possible and not trapping claimants in a bureaucratic tangle and run around. The Task Force/s and the special land courts should cease to exist after five years. Special laws if needed should be enacted to deal with this issue in the north and east.