President sets deadline to release all military occupied land in North and East

President Maithripala Sirisena said the occupied lands in the North and East should inevitably be returned to the rightful owners, and instructed the relevant authorities to sort out the problems and complete the process to release the lands before 31 December.

The President instructed the officials when the Presidential Task Force on Development of the Northern and Eastern Provinces met for the third time on Wednesday at the Parliamentary Complex.

The President gave further instructions to prepare a proper timeframe to launch the relevant program and present the progress of the program at the next Presidential Task Force meeting next month.

Special attention was focused on releasing military occupied buildings and lands belonging to schools in the North and East. The President, noting that people in certain areas of the Trincomalee District are facing a severe water shortage, inquired about the program being implemented to resolve the drinking water issue.