More than 187 acres of State-owned land in Kankesanthurai, Jaffna, have been formally released by the Security Forces for civilian use, opening the site to future investment and development.
The release covers 187.56 acres belonging to the State Cement Corporation, located in Grama Niladhari Division J/233, Kankesanthurai West, within the Valikamam North (Tellippalai) Divisional Secretariat Division. The land had been used by the Sri Lanka Army since 1997.
Documents relating to the release were handed to Jaffna District Secretary M. Piratheepan by Colonel W. M. A. M. Nissanka, Officer in Charge of Civil Affairs at Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna, Palaly. The handover took place at the Jaffna District Secretariat on Wednesday, 30 September.
Earmarked for an investment zone
The release forms part of an initiative to make State-owned land available for a proposed investment zone at Kankesanthurai, intended to support investment, economic activity and development in the north.
Officials framed the handover as a further step in returning State land in the Northern Province that had been occupied or used by the security forces to civilian and productive use.
Background
Land held by the military in the north has been released in stages over successive administrations, and the pace of those releases remains a live political issue in Jaffna, where landowner groups have continued to press for the return of remaining military-held plots in Valikamam North.
The land released in this case is State property rather than private holdings, and is tied to a planned commercial development rather than resettlement. No timeline has been announced for the investment zone itself.
Kankesanthurai has drawn renewed commercial attention as transport links to southern India have expanded, including the resumption of IndiGo’s direct Tiruchirappalli–Jaffna air service on 1 October.
