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Alleged illegal sand mining in the East: Around six cubes bought by Maldives

11 Sep 2021

  • No sand sent to the Maldives for construction work: Minister
  • Complaints made to EP Governor ignored, removed from agenda: MP
By Yumiko Perera Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera last week claimed that sand mined from the Eastern Province (EP) had not been shipped to the Maldives for construction work, and that he was willing to resign if the allegations linking a Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) minister to sand trafficking were proven to be true. The allegations were made by Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam. Rasamanickam made these allegations in Parliament last Tuesday (7), linking a sand mining racket in the East, where sand was shipped from Sri Lanka to fill an island in the Maldives, to an SLFP minister. Speaking with The Sunday Morning, Rasamanickam stated: “I have been following the sand mining racket in the East over the years, and it is evident that there is a political hand behind it. I have made several complaints to the Governor of the Eastern Province. However, the topic had been removed from the agenda of our District Development Committee meeting as well.” “While the Governor had been promising for over a year that she would take action and come up with a proper mechanism to address it, it is very clear that there are MPs in the East who have their nominees running these sand mines. Moreover, I even handed over a letter in this regard to the President,” Rasamanickam added. The Opposition MP went on to note that the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) continues to issue sand mining permits haphazardly and charged that it was aiding in the racket. Meanwhile, Amaraweera told the media that after communicating with the GSMB, he learnt that the Maldives had accepted a delivery of six-and-a-half cubes of sand recently to be used for water filtering. The acquisition had been done through a local company. He clarified that the sand had not been used for any construction purpose in the Maldives. The Minister told The Sunday Morning: “We have not allowed the shipping of sand to any country, and we would not allow that to happen in the future either. We are looking into the matter.”

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