The Land Reform Commission (LRC) has been embroiled in controversy following revelations at the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that multiple irregularities have occurred during the allocation of alternative lands.

The committee highlighted that individuals who did not own agricultural land exceeding the maximum limits were not eligible for alternative land. However, it was disclosed that the Commission had allocated land to such individuals.

One particular instance cited was that a woman from the Ratnapura District had been granted more than 43 acres of land on the Hantana estate as an alternative to 22 acres she was entitled to on the Rassagala estate. It was revealed that the Hantana estate, which was not under the jurisdiction of the LRC, was under the purview of the People’s Plantation Development Board. The LRC’s decision to allocate alternative land to someone who did not meet the criteria for land ownership is now under investigation.

Additionally, the Committee discussed a case where, in exchange for land allocated by the Commission to a person from the Kegalle District had been given 25 acres from the Hantana-Uragala estate. He sold the land to a property trading company. The committee revealed that the LRC had sold 25 acres of land to the property trading company on July 31, 2021, for just Rs. 101,109 or Rs. 28.72 per perch. Later, the company sold the land at Rs. 100,000 per perch.

The discussion, which took place in Parliament under the chairmanship of MP Dr. Nishantha Samarasinghe, also examined the audit reports for the years 2022 and 2023, as well as the current performance of the Commission.

The COPE pointed out that the LRC had no system in place to identify and demarcate the land under its control. However, the Commission’s Chairman stated that for the first time, a list of lands under the LRC had been compiled.

Among those present at the COPE meeting were MPs Dayasiri Jayasekara, Mujibur Rahuman, Sammanmali Gunasinghe, and Asitha Niroshan Egoda Vithana, Chandima Hettiarachchi, Lakmali Hemachandra, and others. Also present were the Auditor General, the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation, D.P. Wickramasinghe, the current Chairman of the LRC, R.K. Nihal, former Chairmen Nilantha Wijesinghe and Pandukabhaya Harsha Keerthinanda, and other officials.