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CEA Chair’s son's Knuckles building under investigation

20 Oct 2022

BY Buwanajee Coralage Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MP Wasantha Yapa Bandara alleged that the son of Central Environmental Authority (CEA) Chairman Siripala Amarasinghe is constructing a building in an environmentally sensitive area in the Knuckles Reserve, which is a protected natural reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and therefore called for a thorough investigation into the ownership of this land and the legitimacy of constructing a building in such a natural reserve. He informed Parliament about the alleged construction of a building in the Katukithula canal area in Matale – which mainly provides water for the Moragahakanda Reservoir, also falling within the Knuckles Buffer Zone – by a relative of the CEA Chairman, which has gained much attention in the media recently. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (19), Yapa Bandara said that a discussion was held with the Minister of Environment Ahamed Nazeer Zainulabdeen to inquire into the legitimacy of building in such a buffer zone. Accordingly, a special investigation would be conducted by the Presidential Investigation Unit and the Ministry of Environment. He noted that if land-filling to construct a road is underway, the permission granted to such needs to be re-examined. When contacted by The Morning, Amarasinghe stated that the aforementioned land is indeed owned by his son, and that he is building a house on the land exclusively for personal use. He mentioned that this issue had been specifically publicised in an attempt to slander and discredit him.


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