We will not give up our land: Myliddy residents reject Palaly airport acquisition

Residents of Myliddy have held a detailed discussion with Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi MP S. Shritharan over the release of land in Valikamam North, warning that they will not surrender their ancestral property after the Sri Lankan government issued written notices to acquire it for the proposed expansion of Palaly Airport.

During the meeting, affected residents expressed deep concern over the recent notices, which target land earmarked for the airport project in an area already held under heavy military occupation.

The residents said the land where they and their families had lived for generations was not merely property but represented their livelihood, identity and historical heritage. They stated firmly that they were not prepared to surrender their ancestral land under any circumstances, and would not accept alternative land or compensation as a substitute.

They told Shritharan that, despite years of democratic and legal struggle against attempts to acquire their land, renewed efforts to take it over were compounding the injustice they had already endured, and urged him to take administrative action to protect their rights. They also requested that an urgent meeting be arranged with the president to discuss their demands and the unresolved land issues affecting the Myliddy community.

The discussion was held at the Myliddy North Village Development Association building, with the participation of Valikamam North Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Somasundaram Sugirthan, Valikamam North Pradeshiya Sabha member S. Vijayraj, Valikamam West Pradeshiya Sabha member Sabesan, representatives of organisations involved in land release issues, and local residents.

The acquisition notices give concrete form to a plan set out in parliament this month, when Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara said the Civil Aviation Authority, through the Air Force, had advised that further land around the 774.98-acre Palaly Airport would be needed for future international aviation expansion, alongside 1,661 acres to be permanently acquired for military infrastructure and not returned to their Tamil owners. Any expansion of the airport, which the government has sought to develop to handle wide-body aircraft, would require hundreds of additional acres in the Palaly corridor.

Residents of Valikamam North were forcibly displaced in June 1990, after which the area was designated a High Security Zone, and more than 6,000 families remain displaced, with the 2013 defence ministry gazette acquiring 6,317 acres still unrevoked. Landowners have kept up a 14-week run of weekly protests outside the military commanders bungalow in Myliddy, alongside a parallel demonstration at Palaly Junction, demanding the return of their land.