The Governor of the Northern Province is being accused of aiding and abetting a land grab at a time where continuous demands from the North and East to hand over land powers to the Provincial Councils are gaining international attention.
People in the Madagala area in Jaffna staged a protest in front of the Northern Province Governor's Office on Wednesday (01), accusing the Governor of supporting the Navy's attempts to seize their lands by force.
The Governor of the Northern Province, Jeevan Thyagaraja, is also the Head of the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA).
Local residents are accusing the Governor of supporting the land grab after he allegedly made a statement claiming he would take stern action against those who obstruct surveyors attempting to survey lands for land acquisition.
The statement came after villagers and politicians were able to thwart an attempt by the Navy and surveyors instructed by them from surveying several plots of allegedly privately owned land in the area in a bid to expand existing camps in the region.
The protest on Wednesday was attended by several of the landowners and their families affected by the situation.
The protesters accused the Governor of promising to give them an opportunity to discuss the land issues but had avoided the group citing various reasons.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is currently touring the North with the aim of exerting international pressure on the government to find a political solution that gives more power to the provincial councils in the region.
According to sources, the Navy has repeatedly attempted to forcefully obtain privately owned land in the recent past.
