Gazette on issuing legal documents to state land occupants revoked

COLOMBO (News1st): The government has revoked the gazette on issuing legal documents to persons occupying government lands without any documents. "This document is issued to those who have been engaging in cultivation (on state lands) for about 7 or 8 years," lands minister S.M. Chandrasena said on Thursday. He stressed that farmers should cultivate at least three acres of land if they are to receive the documents. "We will not issue licenses to those who have acquired land recently. We will take the necessary legal action against them," the lands minister noted. Meanwhile, environment minister Mahinda Amaraweera has refuted media reports on environmental destruction. "About 99 percent of the news on environmental destruction are fake," Amaraweera said that the government does not encourage the dissemination of false information.