A Study of Affected Households' Attitude towards the Mode of Compensation for Land Acquisition in Colombo-Kandy Alternative Highway Project

Abstract

Acquisition of Lands for public purpose leads to many issues of local residents of the development area. In particular the acquisition takes place when there is a public purpose to fulfill. With the fulfillment of public purpose the outcome will result is a benefit to the public. Land acquisition is a result of massive infrastructure development which is in progress along with the result of rapid increase of population, urbanization and transition. This will raise the living standards of its people through sustainable development. Looking at opportunities to maximize the public benefit government considers development opportunities at right time and phase will result in the economic growth of the country. Literature shows that there are different types of common issues such as social and economic with respect to the compensation based on land to land or money to land faced by residents due to acquisition of lands in different countries. The main purpose of this study is to analyze possible issues faced by households due to land acquisition and categorize issues. Issues faced by the residents were analyzed to identify the possible issues and categorized accordingly. There are many researches that have been carried out in this thematic area. Mixed method of data collection was applied in this study. The survey was focused to collect information on opinion of affected parties. Unit of analysis was community who faced social and economic issues relating to the mode of compensation. A total population of 827 affected people was considered as the sample covering the areas of Gampaha District and 3 areas were employed for this purpose. Total population used as a sample size and the analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) computer software. Structured interviews were held to ascertain their opinions on steps whichever necessary to identifi the possible issues including socio-economic and demographic variables. Findings of the study indicate that agricultural land holders are losing their income and attitude towards the compensation is land to land.