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Wanathawilluwa tree felling: Land belongs to Cement Corporation

08 Sep 2020

By Sarah Hannnan The land where the alleged deforestation that took place in Eluwankulama, Wanathawilluwa is found to be a land owned by the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation, the Wanathawilluwa Police revealed. “The land that the illegal logging had taken place belongs to the Cement Corporation. The four persons who were arrested on suspicion of illegal logging activities in Eluwankulama, Wanathawilluwa have been placed under remand custody till 15 September after they were produced at the courts on Monday (7). Yesterday (8), another individual was arrested based on further investigations that are being carried out by us,” the Wanathawilluwa Police told The Morning. The individuals had allegedly cleared closer to 100 acres of forest over several months, using chainsaws. As a result, “palu” trees, which were more than 200 years old, as well as “weera” and satinwood, which were about 100 years old, had been destroyed. Divisional Secretary Chathuraka Jayasinghe on Monday said that they were looking into the possibility of whether the cleared land was part of the 6,000-acre land that was allocated to the Cement Corporation in 1960. Further investigations carried out by the Wanathawilluwa Police had revealed that the suspects had cleared the land without a proper permit from the land owner or the Divisional Secretariat and therefore are now further remanded, awaiting the court verdict. Environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardana, explaining the legal status of deforestation in the Wanathawilluwa area in the Puttalam District, said it is first of all compulsory to determine whether the said land is government land or private land. “If it is government land, the provisions of the Forest Conservation Ordinance, especially Article 20, apply. Whether it is government land, private land, or, as some say, licensed land, the National Environmental Act applies equally.” Noting that the list of projects to be approved under Section 23B of the National Environmental Act and the ordinance gazetted in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 772/22 of 24 June 1993 under that Act includes instances where such forest lands are being used for non-forest purposes. There are times when even a project is a project that needs to be approved. Prior to the commencement of the project, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report or a Basic Environmental Analysis Report should be prepared for approval. “Since no such assessments have been done at this time, it is clear that this is a completely illegal act.” He said the procedure to be followed in such cases is set out in Section 24A of the National Environmental Act. Accordingly, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) has the power to issue an order to stop this activity immediately. The area may submit a case to the jurisdiction of the area and seek an injunction restraining it. However, since this area is in the North Western Province, it is possible to take action against it under the North Western Provincial Environmental Charter. “Under Article 51 of the North Western Provincial Environmental Charter, it is possible to order an immediate halt to this and, if necessary, to enforce it as a court order. Because of this, they have the greatest responsibility to prevent this catastrophe by using the power of expression. This is another opportunity to see if that is the case,” Gunawardana concluded.

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