Defense secretary urges vigilance over sites of archaeological value

COLOMBO: There is no room for land grab in the country in future and legal action would be implemented against persons involved in such unlawful acts, Defense Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said, referring to past unlawful land grab practices.

He also requested district secretaries/government agents to be vigilant about the sites of archaeological value as those lands are also prone to such unlawful acts.

Similarly, “action will be taken against the state officials who misuse their vested authority to deal with land issues,” Defense Secretary stressed.

Maj. Gen. Gunaratne reiterated that “regardless of false propaganda disseminated against us to tarnish the image, we will continue our work for the betterment of the country.”

The defense secretary was addressing a meeting held with the District Secretaries/ Government Agents at the Internal Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management State Ministry in Narahenpita.

Referring to the recent upsurge in coronavirus spread, the defense secretary said: “Gampaha District Secretary brought the coronavirus outbreak situation in the Gampaha District to my notice at the onset and as a consequence, we were able to promptly coordinate preventive measures with the relevant authorities.”

He added: “We controlled the previous COVID-19 three waves in the island with the support of the security forces, health sector and relevant stakeholders of the state administrative service.”