Speaking to ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’, civil activist - Chinthaka Rajapakse said that this arbitrary land grabbing being done by the Lahugala Pradeshya Secretariat is illegal and had violated the Fundamental Rights of the Panama civilians.

Also, hundreds of families who had lived in the area for generations became homeless after 1220 acres of agricultural land, forest, beach, lagoon and areas were taken over in this manner in 2010, Mr. Rajapakse said.

Upon the intervention of the President and Prime minister, the Cabinet decided on Feb. 11, 2015 to release all these land except 25 acres controlled by the Sri Lanka Air Force. However, the measure was not executed even though months have elapsed since the decision was announced, he charged.