The Departments of Wildlife Conservation and Forests are accused of following an ignorant attitude when part of their lands in the Ampara District is being bulldozed for the Deyata Kirula exhibition.
More than 10 acres in the Buddhangala sanctuary and over four acres of forest lands situated opposite the sanctuary have already been bulldozed to use as a vehicle park for the exhibition. In addition to the environment impact, it has posed a great threat since part of the electric fence at the second mile post on Ampara-Uhana Road has been removed to facilitate Deyata Kirula car park.
Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya who is also the Chairman of Deyata Kirula exhibition committee has come under severe criticism for instructing his officers to clear the forest and sanctuary lands for the car park despite the fact that Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and Forest Department (FD) were not pleased with the directives initially.
Clearing a sanctuary is a violation of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO) No: 22 of 2009.
“Deyata Kirula organising committee has violated section 7 of the FFPO. None of the officials at DWC agree with what the Deyata Kirula organizing committee has done to the sanctuary and especially with the removal of the electric fence. However we had to oblige instructions that come from the top. All of us at DWC are helpless,” a reliable source in the DWC said on conditions of anonymity.
According to him, removing a part of the electric fence that was installed recently would be a great loss to the department.
“The DWC spent Rs.125 million to install the 221km long electric fence recently. Removing part of it for the car park is a great loss. When the removed fence is reinstalled, we will have to bear the cost for the fence and labour charges. The fence would not be stronger as earlier even though it is reinstalled,” he added.
He further noted that the situation could be worse if herds of elephants start to move out of the sanctuary.
Meanwhile, sources further revealed that a road network has been constructed in the Ampara sanctuary for the Deyata Kirula exhibition.
All sanctuaries, national parks under threat
“An alternative road network has been constructed inside the Ampara sanctuary which was declared as a sanctuary in 1954. In addition another road was constructed within the Maduru Oya National Park for the Deyata Kirula. All sanctuaries and national parks have now come under threat from our rulers, not from encroachers,” the sources said.
He further added that it is a pity how the rulers who made laws to protect the environment are violating the same for their benefit.
“Not only has this government violated the FFPO and section 20 of the Forest Ordinance No: 65 of 2009, they have also violated National Environment Act (amended) No: 47 of 1980. Accordingly if any development work is carried out within a 100 metre radius of any sanctuary, an environment impact assessment has to be done. In this instance they have failed to carry out this,” added the sources.
However, environmentalists accuse the DWC and FD for not taking any action against the Deyata Kirula exhibition committee headed by Minister Siyambalapitiya for the destruction that has caused to the forest and the sanctuary.
“When Minister Siyambalapitiya met the wildlife and forest officers in October last year they have objected taking their lands for the car park. But however Minister Siyambalapitiya has said that these lands have to be used for the purpose claiming that Deyata Kirula exhibition is a brainchild of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. That was why both forest and wildlife departments have had to follow a deaf and dumb attitude against the destruction,” said Director Environment Conservation Trust, Sajeewa Chamikara.
With an extent of 1841.3 hectares Buddhangala was declared as a sanctuary on November 1, 1974. Since this is a dry mixed evergreen forest and one of the main elephant corridors in the country, large herds of elephants could be seen in this sanctuary throughout the year. According to Chamikara, the part of the sanctuary that was cleared is a hotspot for elephants and as a result of the removal of the electric fence a great threat has loomed over the lives of the elephants.
“All these years we spoke about the elephant-human conflict where elephants were killed frequently by the villagers. In this instance if the elephants come to the car park since there is no electric fence to drive them away, people that come in numbers for the exhibition will panic. It would not be the villagers that shoot the elephants this time, but the security forces,” said Chamikara.
All attempts to contact Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya for a comment failed. His staff directed this newspaper to the Minister’s media officer Pathum for further details.
Media levelling baseless allegations
However, Pathum refused the claim that wildlife and forest lands have been taken for the car park and added that none of the car parks have been earmarked in the sanctuary or forest land.
“The media is leveling baseless allegations. If you pay a visit to this area you will be able to see that we have not touched the said lands for any purpose. It is the Ampara police that handle all work there and Minister Siyambalapitiya is not accountable for anything although he is the Chairman of the exhibition committee,” Pathum said.
When queried why he rejects the allegation when the Wildlife and Forest Departments have already confirmed this paper that part of their lands has been cleared and bulldozed using backhoes and bulldozers, Pathum said that he has to speak to the officers at the Deyata Kirula site whether the claim is accurate.
“I want to find out more details and will come back to you,” said Pathum.
However he did not return the call.
Meanwhile, Ampara Additional District Secretary, Asanga Abeywardhana said that although wildlife and forestlands have been taken for the car park, the lands have not been bulldozed as claimed by the environmentalists.
“We have not bulldozed the lands. There is no necessity to do so as these lands were bare lands,” said Abeywardhana.
When told that this newspaper has photographs to prove that the lands have been bulldozed, the Additional District Secretary said that the media was referring to the anthills (where snakes live) that have been bulldozed.
“There were lot of anthills and we had to bulldoze all of them,” said Abeywardhana.
When questioned whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) had been done before clearing the lands, he said that there is no necessity to do an EIA as the lands have not been acquired but has taken over temporarily for the vehicle park.
“We have not removed the electric fence as told by you. Only a small strip of land on either side of the Ampara–Uhana road was cleared for the vehicle park. We have not harmed the environment,” said Abeywardhana
Assistant Director DWL Ampara, Lalith Kumara when contacted for a comment on the clearing of the sanctuary land, disconnected the line when he was told that the call was from The Sunday Leader.
All attempts thereafter to contact Kumara failed.
However Director Operations and Acting Director General DWC, W.K. Pathirathna said that his department was not aware of clearing the sanctuary lands.
“I have to find this out from the Assistant Director Ampara. Please call me later for further details,” said Pathirathna.
When contacted for the second time, Pathirathna confirmed the clearing of the wildlife land but added that wildlife officers were able to stop further clearing.
It was the Police
“The police have cleared the land without informing us when the Assistant Director Ampara was out of Ampara. When this was notified he (Assistant Director) has got the bulldozing stopped. It was the police that have bulldozed the land,” said Pathirathna.
However Pathirathna failed to tell what the impact would be as a result of removing part of the electric fence that drove away large numbers of elephants.
“I was not informed about the removal of the electric fence. I have to contact the Assistant Director Wildlife in Ampara to find out the truth. Since we do not know exactly who has cleared our land and brought destruction to the wildlife we cannot take any legal action.
May be it is the police behind this, but the police may have given the contract to a contractor to bring backhoes and bulldozers to the sanctuary. If we found that party we would certainly take legal action against them,” said Pathirathna.
Deputy Conservator Forest (Environment Management) Mahinda Seneviratne said that Forest Department permission was not sought to clear forestlands for the Deyata Kirula car park.
“Earlier, part of our land was cleared for the car park without our knowledge. When this was brought to our notice strict instructions were given to stop clearing our lands. Later the organizing committee requested us another alternative bare land closer to one of our nurseries. Considering the necessity, Forest Department gave its consent to use this strip of land temporarily,” said Seneviratne.(By Nirmala Kannangara)
Source: The Sunday Leader (Sri Lanka)
