SRI LANKA NEWS IN BRIEF (SEPTEMBER 2017) Compiled by Victor Melder Alleging that the army continued to hold about 85,000 acres of land in the North, Northern Province Chief Minister and former Supreme Court judge C.W. Wigneswaran,  sought the intervention of most Ven. Tibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera of Malwatte Chapter to shift troops out those lands. CM Wigneswaran claimed that only about 5,000 acres had been so far released to their original owners. The Chief Minister placed the strength of the army deployed in the Northern Province at 150,000. Asserting that there was no requirement to maintain such a large force in the Northern Province, Wigneswaran called for their removal. The Mahanayake thera told the CM to make representations to President Maithripala Sirisena as he could solve the problem. The prelate emphasised that the army could not be removed from the Northern Province. CM Wigneswaran told the Mahanayake that ...