Abandoned coconut lands to be taken over by government

By Indika Sri Aravinda

The Coconut Cultivation Board states that attention has been focused on taking over 500,000 acres of coconut lands that are currently not cultivated and developing them.  

Accordingly, the lands belonging to the coconut triangle in the areas of Kurunegala, Gampaha, Puttalam and Kuliyapitiya will be taken over, said Dr. Sunimal Jayakody, Chairman of the Coconut Cultivation Board.  

He says that an action plan has already been prepared to take over the coconut lands that are not cultivated by growing to an acre based on a legal document.  

Mr. Jayakody emphasizes that since the owners of coconut groves that are currently cultivated in large quantities have settled abroad and some coconut grove owners do not get a proper coconut harvest due to their residence far from the area, these lands are being taken over with the aim of developing them.  

The Chairman said that the acquisition of these lands will be done through a legal transaction and a lease deed and that the land will be given to the owners of those lands after the relevant period.  

The Treasury has already allocated Rs. 790 million for the implementation of this additional programme.  

The Coconut Development Board is to prepare a mechanism to grow vegetables as undercrops on these lands that will be acquired by the government and export the vegetables.  

Although the annual coconut harvest last year was about 2,700 million coconuts, it is planned to increase this to 4,500 million coconuts by 2030 under this programme, said the Board Chairman.