• Claims Environment Ministry has no role in deciding compensation or related interventions

The Ministry of Environment stated that decisions on crop damage linked to the recent elephant-drive in Hambantota would be made at District Level.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Deputy Minister of Environment, Anton Jayakody said that the Environment Ministry had no role in deciding compensation or related interventions.

“The elephant-drive was carried out following discussions between farmers, public officials and the District Coordination Committee. They have already begun discussing the issue of crop damage at District Level. When discussions have been finalised, the necessary decisions will be made,” he added.

Jayakody’s statement comes in the wake of the elephant-relocation effort carried out this month, which the ministry earlier described as successful. He earlier said the operation was a short-distance effort aimed at moving elephants that had entered villages back into the nearby reserve to protect communities and wildlife. The operation, which began on 2 November, involved moving herds living outside protected zones in the Hambantota District. About 2,000 personnel from the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Air Force, the Police and the Civil Defence Force had been deployed for the task.

Environmental groups had however urged the authorities to revisit the strategy, charging that scientific research has shown elephant drives to be largely ineffective and, in some instances, harmful.