• Govt. will take prompt action regarding allegations: Minister Amaraweera

By Skandha Gunasekara Deforestation continues to rise across the country with many incidents allegedly being carried out illegally and government politicians being protected, environmental groups and the Opposition claimed. They also claimed that one reason for deforestation was illegal land grabbing, which was allegedly occurring on the lands vested with temples, known as “nindagam”, which come under the Vihara Dewalagam (Temples and Shrines) Division of the Department of Buddhist Affairs. One such case of temple land being cleared was in the Nakolagane forest lands in the Kurunegala District, adjacent to the Palukadawala River. “This is a Vihara Dewalagam land. These are governed under the ‘Vihara Dewalagam Panatha’ (Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance) regulated by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs. Any development or leasing of lands must go through the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs,” Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka Convener and Chief Organiser Jayantha Wijesinghe told The Sunday Morning. He alleged that the lands here were illegally leased out by a Buddhist monk in the area. “In this case, this land adjacent to the Palukadawala River did not go through any proper process. It is supposedly 2,000 acres of nindagam. However, the monk had created a fake nindagam deed on a bronze paper to include such a vast extent of land, and this was because the monk wanted to lease out this land to some businessmen,” he alleged. Under the guise of ‘agriculture’ Wijesinghe said that based on the information he gathered and reports from local villages, several companies were involved in the alleged land grab, which they did under the guise of carrying out agricultural projects. “Three companies grabbed pieces of land here. One company is planting mango, another is maintaining an agarwood plantation, and the third is another agricultural venture. “When businessmen say they wish to utilise the land for an agricultural project, there is a misconception that it is justifiable. However, the effect on the larger picture is that this land grabbing under the guise of agricultural ventures destroys entire forests and ecosystems,” he alleged. Wijesinghe said that deforestation in the Nakolagane forest lands left more than 500 elephants homeless. “Between 70-100 acres of deforestation occurred from 2019-2021 in this area. It is also home to roughly about 500 elephants that pass through this area from Galgamuwa to Kala Wewa.” According to Wijesinghe, permission was not sought from the relevant environmental authorities. “They are cutting this land without any environmental clearance from the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) or any other authority. I asked the Provincial Secretary if he approved it, but he said he had not. So, that entire forest is being decimated without approval. This is also an archaeological site,” he added. He then claimed that other such temple lands were also being destroyed for profit. He alleged that some 3,000 acres of the Soragune Devalaya land has been allegedly grabbed, occupied, or encroached by judges and politicians, one of whom is allegedly a senior governing party politician from Ratnapura, who had leased it legally, but for a pittance. “Then, 2,000 acres of the Wattegama Devalaya land was illegally given to a sugar company, around 50 acres of the Delgoda Devalaya land was deforested, and poor farmers were given two acres each of komarika plantations in Rajanganaya for them to engage in agriculture. But all that land now was grabbed by a single businessman. This is systematic corporate and business land-grabbing on a massive scale,” Wijesinghe alleged. Meanwhile, the Environmental Conservation Trust revealed that 6% of the land extent of the Anuradhapura District is to be given on a long-term lease to a single private company named Aura. “Following a joint cabinet paper being presented by Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa and Minister of Lands S.M. Chandrasena, the Cabinet of Ministers took the decision to hand over this land on 6 August 2021. The cabinet paper states that 104,066 acres (42,115 hectares [ha]) of land in the Anuradhapura District will be given on a 30-year lease to a company named Aura,” Environmental Conservation Trust Director Sajeewa Chamikara told The Sunday Morning. “Under this venture, they plan to cultivate aloe vera as an export crop. The total investment for this project is $ 783 million, and $ 300 million was given as an initial investment, according to the cabinet paper,” he noted. He said that local farmers had lost their livelihoods and thus Sri Lankans had lost local paddy producers. Chamikara then disclosed information pertaining to large-scale deforestation in the Wattegama-Kebiliththa Forest Reserve in the Monaragala District – an area located in the Siyambalanduwa Divisional Secretariat. “Several businessmen joined in to clear forests in the reserve to cultivate maize. More lands are set to be deforested for this purpose as well,” he alleged. He said this situation resulted in an increase in human-elephant conflict (HEC) as well. “As a result, lands where elephants live and migrate through were destroyed, and this caused a rise in HEC in the area. The Monaragala District recorded a high number of HEC incidents, a majority of which took place in the Siyambalanduwa Divisional Secretariat Division. In the last 10 years, there have been 1,127 reports of elephants damaging property, along with a high number of deaths of elephants and humans.” Pressure mounts from Opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian Vijitha Herath alleged that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had spewed lies before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly while his lackeys and government politicians destroyed the environment in Sri Lanka. “The President said in New York that the Government was planning to increase forest cover, but in reality, they are cutting more trees and clearing even more forests. They are selling the lands to corporations,” he said, alleging that political patronage was given to these illegal activities. “Political henchmen are involved. The politicians of this Government are providing them protection. We have been talking about these issues since the Sinharaja Forest areas were cleared by this Government,” he charged. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) too decried the Government’s failure to take action. SJB MP Ajith P. Perera said: “We have information about sand mining being carried out in Batticaloa. We condemn these illegal activities and stand firm that such forests should not be disturbed, as these have been growing for thousands of years. According to the information received, these are a result of the action of local politicians.” He said that the SJB would take these matters up in Parliament during this week’s sittings. “In the Central Province, they are targeting the Elkaduwa Plantations lands which were abandoned decades ago and transformed into forests. Clearing these forests will have a serious impact on the environment and the flora and fauna. We had a meeting about these issues a few days ago and our MPs will raise these issues,” he added. Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera, responding to the allegations, said the Government would take prompt action.  “Most of these issues come under the purview of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, but we act as and when we can,” he said. With regard to the forest being illegally felled in Batticaloa, the Minister said that it was being done on privately owned land and that he had responded to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam in Parliament when the matter was raised. “The issue in Batticaloa pertains to private land. What was revealed in Parliament was a farce and I asked this MP to provide evidence. The real issue there is that when those local politicians lose out in some way, they make these kinds of allegations. If someone is trying to do things within private land, what we can do is issue a permit. But before that, they must get approval from the provincial secretariat and the Archaeological Department. There are several institutions that need to give approvals before we sign off on a matter,” he said. When The Sunday Morning pointed out that sand mining without the necessary permits was illegal and would cause harm to the environment, the Minister said the matter would be looked into. “If illegal sand mining is taking place in the Batticaloa District, we will look into it,” he said. Speaking about the forest destruction in Palukaduwa in the Kurunegala District, the Minister said that he had already commenced investigations, despite the matter coming under the purview of the Ministry of Buddhist Affairs. “We have initiated an investigation into this matter. However, those are temple lands and so they come under the purview of the Ministry of Buddhist Affairs. But I have instructed my officials to look into this to make sure that environmental destruction isn’t taking place,” he assured. Addressing the issue of deforestation in the Monaragala District, the Minister again pledged to take appropriate action, despite the matter not being reported, according to him. He added: “We have not heard about this deforestation issue in the Wattegama-Kebiliththa Forest Reserve, but we will look into it.” How such promises translate into action on the ground remains to be seen.