Farmers with more than 01 acre of farm land will be issued firearms licences, Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage said.
The Minister made the announcement during the adjournment debate held in Parliament yesterday.
Minister Aluthgamage further said the decision was taken after a discussion with the Defence Ministry.
“Initially farmers were provided with firearms to protect their crops. However, that was amended to farmers with only over 05 acres of land. Which farmer in Sri Lanka has 05 acres now? Farmers now possess only ½ an acre or one acre of land. So, they do not have firearms,” he said.
The Minister pointed out that the Agriculture Act says that farmers can act if their farmlands are affected.
“Thereby, we held a discussion with the Defence Ministry and decided to provide firearms to farmers with 01 acre of land. As a result, a decision has been taken to issue firearms to farmers with one or more acres of land,” he said. (NewsWire)