Beggaring the People; Enslaving the Nation
by Tisaranee Gunasekara
“We used to live in the cashew plantation in ‘Aaru Bokka’. First they came from the Port and measured our land…. Then they sent letters. Our land has been valued at very low levels… 2 lakhs, 3 lakhs…. There were about 70 families…. We all owned plots of about 2.5 acres…. (After we protested) they increased it to 5 lakhs, 6 lakhs… And we moved into these plots of 20 perches….. Around this time of the year, the cashew would have brought us the most income… The…reservoirs…had been filled up…. We had brick-making huts. We never got compensation for any of those structures….. Before we left, they told us that one member from each family would be given a job… We didn’t get that either…. No one was given a job…. We are now totally helpless”.