The Missing Persons Office, Truth Exploration Committee, Right to Information Act, 19th Amendment to the Constitution and the establishment of independent commissions were seen by the UN Secretary General as positive initiatives of the government, the President said.  

President Maithripala Sirisena made these comments yesterday (02), during a meeting with chief editors of leading media organisation, subsequent to his meeting with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

‘Extremist organisations’

The President said that he had notified the UN Secretary General of the government’s initiative in handing back lands to the displaced persons in the North forging ahead successfully and alleged that certain extremist organisations were involved in spreading rumours through the media, stating that military lands were to be distributed among the displaced.

President Sirisena said that the displaced people in the North were only interested in getting back their ancestral lands and by now these lands have been identified and the displaced persons still in temporary camps have been notified in writing of the process.

He further stated that the UN Secretary General had been informed that the delay in returning the lands to the displaced was due to the shortage of staff and lack of sufficient trained officers in the Survey Department, to be deployed for land survey.

The UN Secretary General had been informed that a special task force had been established jointly by the Land Ministry and the Defence Ministry, to expedite the resettlement process of the displace persons currently living in temporary shelters for over a year.

Handing over of lands

The President stated that within the next three months the government intends to complete the resettlement process of the displaced persons in the North.

The UN Secretary General had therefore agreed to allow the government adequate time in order to complete the resettlement and reconciliation process successfully.

During his private discussion with the UN Secretary General, President Sirisena had pointed out the successful journey of the new Unity Government over the past 1 and 1/2 years and the efforts taken to restore democracy, human rights, fundamental rights, judicial independence, law and order and the establishment of the Bribery Commission to curtail corruption and fraud.

The President pointed out that the wounded minds over the past 27 years of war cannot be healed in a day and his government had embarked on a slow and effective path of reconciliation and healing.