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Social media posts as well as some mainstream media had reported that the current government has taken steps to remove a military camp that has been set up in Vadamarachchi region in Jaffna. So, we decided to do an investigation on this.
Social media posts:
A social media post was circulated stating that an army base had been removed from Vadamarachchi region and that this decision was taken by the new government.
Explainer:
We first checked whether the mainstream media had reported that a military camp in the Vadamarachchi area had been removed on the order of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake after the current government was appointed.
The mainstream media had reported that, the Army headoffice has taken steps to remove an army camp that was built in a private land in the Karkovalam area in Vadamarachchi, before the 30th of this month. It further reported that, this 8 acre land belongning to three owners, has been decided to return to them based on the demands that were made by the owners to the government.
After residents of this area has left the region during the war, the land was acquired by the army in order to maintain the security of the Vadamarachchi Karkovalam area.
It was further mentioned that this land, which was acquired 34 years ago, has many permanent buildings and a large number of permanent fields and while the buildings and fields of the camp remain the same, it has been decided to remove only the military personnel and vehicles.
Accordinlgy, many of the reports state that this decision has taken on a sudden note.
You can refer to the reports here and here.
Vadamarachchi District Secretariat
We inquired the Vadamarachchi District Secretariat about the land and the army camp.
They said that a group of people protested to remove the army base since last year (2023). Accordingly, it was decided to remove it even before the current government was appointed and so the soldiers have left the place.
But the residents of the area have protested, requesting not to remove the army base, for there is a high chance of resurfacing risk of drugs, illegal sand dumping and smuggling. Therefore, a limited number of soldiers were left in the camp.
They also mentioned that some of the residents who protested have requested the district secretarieat to inform the army headquarters not to remove the army base.
Furthermore, a request has been made to the Vadamarachchi District Secretariat in the last year 2023 to check whether there is private ownership of the land of this army camp and it has been informed that the land has been owned by three brothers since 1995.
The land will be handed over to the owners after the army base is removed.
Accordingly, they pointed out that this was not a sudden decision, but that since 2023, the materials of the camp including the soldiers had been removed.
Peduruthuduwa Provincial Council
They reported that more than half of the soldiers have left the base camp, and the remaming soldiers are also currently been removed from the camp.
Vadamarachchi Regional Reporters
Regional reporters of Vadamarachchi district also confirmed that soldiers have been leaving the base camp since last year.
They further reported that, though some politicians and residents protested to remove the base camp from the area, some people have protested requesting to keep the base camp in order to maintain the security in the area.
Here is a video of a protest done by the residents in the area in 2023, to persuad former president Ranil Wickramasinghe and then Minster of Defense not to remove the army camp belonging to the 4th Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment.
Here is a video of the protest.
Accordingly, half of the soldiers have remained in the camp until this year.
Residents of Vadamarachchi region
The residents also confirmed that the army camp is currently been removed, and that they do not like it as it maintained the security of the region.
Releasing lands in the North province
Former president Ranil Wickramasinghe implemented a program to release the lands used by the Security Force Headquarters Jaffna. This program was also launched at the Palali Air Force Base in conjuction with the ‘Urumaya’ program held in Ottagapulam area on 22nd March. Jaffna Commander Major General Chandana Wickramasinghe has handed over the official land release documents to the President, and then President Ranil Wickramasinghe has handed over the documents to Jaffna District Governor Mr. Maradalingam Pradeepan.
The former president has said that after the war, a large number of lands had been taken under the control of the governmnet. So far, the government has released about 63,000 acres of governmnet and private land, about 2600 acres of government and private lands under the navy, and 2600 acres of government and private lands under the airforce.
You can refer here and here for the mainstream media reports.
Here is a mainstream media news that reported that 100 acre of land was released which was used by the defense forces. You can refer to more mainstream media here, here and here.
Defense Minsitry
We inquired this from the Director of media and spokesperson of Ministry of Defense, Colonel Nalin Herath. He mentioned that the removal of the army base is not a sudden decision. It has been in progress since last year and before removing the entire military base, the security situation has been analyzed, reviewed and many other issues related to it.
Presidential media unit
We inquired the Najith Indika, the director of the presidential media unit. He mentioned that under the land releasing program initiated by former president Ranil Wickramasinghe, it was decided to handover the ownership of the Vadamarachchi army camp to its owner and that it will be finalized by the end of this month.
However he mentioned that, since the policy statement of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the National People’s Force states that the acquired lands of the people of the north will be released systematically, the related situations will be analyzed and taken care of.
Here is an instance where the current president recently mentioned that the land of the people of the north, which the government has taken over, will be released step by step.
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Title:An explanation of the facts about the removal of a military camp from Vadamarachchi region!
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: Insight
