Sampur HSZ or FTZ?
Two petition were presented to the high court on Friday to challenge the newly established High Security Zone in Sampur.
Three petitioners to the high court say their fundamental rights were violated by preventing their right to return home. Accusing the President who is also the defence minister along with the secretary to the defence ministry, commanders of the armed forces and the Chief of Police, the petitioners ask for the fundamental right of access to their ancestral land. 4200 families dispalced Thousands of people were evacuated from the area in June 2006 as fighting intensified between the advancing government forces and the Tamil Tigers. According to the petitioners, Since then, Sampur villagers belonging to 4200 families lived in makeshift camps further South under very bad conditions. In 2006 September, the area was captured by the government forces. The petitioners say the government forces had prevented them from going back to their homes since. "We had asked for permission to go to our homes. We need to work our farms to earn a living, but the permission was denied every time". HSZ or FTZ? The petition details that an area as big as 90 square kilometres around Sampur had been declared as a High Security Zone. "Some of these people has land rights in the area which dates back over one hundred years!", Say the lawyer representating the petitioners, Sharmane Gunaratne. "Constitution had guranteed the fundamental right to live anywhere you like and to make a living", she told the BBC. Since the declaration of the area as High Security Zone[HSZ], the Board of Investment declared Sampur are as a designated Free Trade Zone [FTZ]. The petitioners say that they are intrigued by the decision where the area is declared unsafe to inhabit, it is going to be used for business activities. The government had announced plans to build a new coal power station in Sampur.