Cabinet Subcommittee Intervenes to Resolve Uma Oya Land Disputes, Allocates Over Rs. 300 Million for Compensation

A Cabinet subcommittee has intervened to provide a permanent solution to long-standing land issues faced by residents in the Welimada, Uva Paranagama, and Hali-Ela Divisional Secretariat areas, stemming from the Uma Oya Development Project. Following resident objections to previous land valuation assessments, the government has decided to implement compensation based on a revised scientific valuation process. In the first phase of this initiative, over Rs. 300 million has been allocated to compensate 276 individuals who lost their lands during reservoir construction. As an initial step, compensation cheques of Rs. 1.2 million each are being distributed.