Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement — Policy and ... - CEPA

same acquiring officer, the Divisional Secretary, on behalf of the state, tothose losing land to the STDP has been highlighted as an equity issue bystate officials. A standardisation of the policy which retains the learning fromLARC needs to be considered.Other learnings from the experience of LARC include the importance oftransparency of entitlements and the decision making process, timely andaccurate sharing of information and documentation of decisions taken, theneed to give equal priority in compensating those who have lost land but notbeen displaced and the need for greater emphasis in implementingnon-monetary assistance as part of the compensation package. LARC wasundoubtedly a critical element of the resettlement process of the STDP andhas contributed to maximizing replacement and minimizing grievancesrelating to compensation. Attempts were made to overcome weaknesses inthe design and implementation of LARC. There are critical tradeoffs thatneed to be addressed in applying these principles to other resettlementsituations. The underlying learning, however, is that despite its challenges,the role and principles of LARC need to be absorbed into the land acquisitionand resettlement policies of Sri Lanka.175