brand logo

WB-funded project: Environmentalists claim Yala pipeline illegal

09 Jan 2022

By Uwin Lugoda Environmentalists have objected to the recent World Bank (WB) funded development taking place within the Yala National Park, The Sunday Morning learns. Several environmentalists are collectively calling the new 12 km pipeline being dug in Yala to provide water from the Menik Ganga to the Yala National Park’s main office an unethical and unlawful development. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Environmental Conservation Trust (ECT) Director Sajeewa Chamikara stated that allowing such a development to take place within a national park went against the purpose of a national park. He explained that when a national park has been declared, its main goal is to conserve that region’s biodiversity. “According to our Flora and Fauna Ordinance, when a national park is declared, its main goal is biodiversity conservation, but what we are seeing is that the Wildlife Department makes tourism the priority. It is obvious that this is why they carry out these types of developments because pumping water into a building is completely unnecessary for biodiversity conservation.” He stated that this project was a World Bankfunded project aimed at monetising Sri Lanka’s national parks through tourism. “When these projects come in, the Wildlife Department does not think of the impact on the ecosystem, or the tourist carrying capacity of the parks, and thinks of only the tourism goal. They need to understand their duty and when they take in foreign projects they need to look at where their priorities lie.” According to Chamikara, the Flora and Fauna Ordinance calls for developments of this scale taking place in national parks to have a park management plan, which includes an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by a technical committee assigned by the Director General of the Wildlife Ministry. Once finalised, this plan should be approved by the Ministry Secretary before being implemented. “The developments currently taking place in our parks have no such park management plan or an EIA. What happens when the Wildlife Department itself is violating the Flora and Fauna Ordinance? Who else is there to intervene and correct these issues?” questioned Chamikara. He also placed the blame on the World Bank, stating that such funding agencies continue funding these projects to pressurise the Government to commercialise the country’s national parks. “They do not highlight protection; they just want to use these national parks for economic purposes.” Speaking to The Sunday Morning on the legal aspect of this development, Environmental Lawyer Jagath Gunawardena stated that the cutting of trees taking place in Yala for this development project was illegal according to the Flora and Fauna Ordinance. He explained that the Act did not allow for the disturbing of the environment within national parks unless under exceptional circumstances for conservation purposes, which this development did not fall into. “If this was a small pipeline, there would not be an issue, but this is 12km long, making it a large-scale development. I don’t think that even with an EIA they are able to do such a project inside one of our national parks,” opined Environmental Lawyer Hemantha Withanage. Responding to a query by The Sunday Morning, Wildlife Director Operations (DO) Ranjan Marasinghe stated that plans for this pipeline were first brought up in 2017, when a larger development project for Yala was planned, which also included creating roads in blocks 3, 4 and 5 and modifying the park entrance. “The pipeline will carry water from the Menik Gaga to the Yala entrance office in two four-inch pipes, one of which will stop a kilometre away from the office. We have two pipes so that if one stops working, we can use the other one to pump water.” The project, while not being 100% environmentally friendly, had not led to the cutting down or clearing of any trees and had only resulted in smaller bushes being cleared, Marasinghe stated. When questioned about an EIA, Marasinghe said there was no need for an EIA since it was a legal requirement for external projects and had to be approved by the Wildlife Department. Instead, he stated that they did an environmental management plan prior to commencing the project, which looked at the environmental impact and was being monitored by the World Bank. “These conservationists are not educated about wildlife management. We are responsible for conservation as well as managing tourism within the park, so it is our duty to meet both those goals,” Marasinghe claimed


More News..