• Farmers and MONLAR complain to CIABOC against H’tota DS 
• DS denies involvement 

A group of farmers, supported by the Movement for Land and Agriculture Reforms (MONLAR), has complained to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) regarding a series of issues arising from alleged corrupt actions by the District Secretariat of Hambantota.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, a researcher from the said Movement, Sajeewa Chamikara claimed the collective decided to bring the matter to the CIABOC directly, as the accused is the District Secretary (DS) of the Hambantota District, Bimal Indrajith, and hence the issue cannot be addressed at the regional level. The Movement complains of two major issues. Firstly, allocating Rs. 4 million for a farming project and deforesting 150 acres of land that belongs to a Wildlife Conservation area that is a habitat for elephants. Secondly, offering the said lands to five companies to construct a solar power plant after receiving money from those companies in order to build an electric fence against elephants. Sajeewa further said that due to the alleged crimes that are being committed by the accused, the farmers in the area are seeing an escalation of the human-elephant conflict and various hindrances in supplying water for their agricultural lands.

When contacted by The Daily Morning, Indrajith denied each of the allegations. He said that it is the Mahaweli Authority that is in charge of the lands in question and that the DS has no power over any such destruction, and that no money has been allocated for a farming project by him. He further added that the amount of money received was received as a donation from an investor and was not a bribe to fulfil ulterior motives.