Trees are cut down all over
Questions have been raised as to who has authorized the District Secretary of Puttalam and Divisional Secretary of Wanathawilluwa to grant permission to clear 245 acres of land in the Wipattu National Park buffer zone.
Two hundred and forty five acres of thick jungle in Moradawilluwa and Thavusamadama which is in the Wilpattu buffer zone are now being cleared for a supposed agricultural project said Director Environment Conservation Trust, Sajeewa Chamikara.
According to Chamikara, more than 100 acres have been completely cleared by now and the State Timber Corporation is in the process of felling all the old valuable trees on a directive by the Forest Department. This is in complete violation of the Fauna and Flora Act of 2009.
Jagath Gunawardena, Attorney-at-Law specializing in environmental law told The Sunday Leader that if the said land is within one mile of the buffer zone of the Wilpattu National Park, any development activities can be authorized only by the Director General, Wild Life Conservation Department under Section 9A of the Fauna and Flora Ordinance.
“Permission can be given only after the project proponent submits an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report or an Internal Environmental Examination report which is then subjected to public comments for a 30 day period. Approval can be granted only after this process has been concluded. In addition, under Section 51 of the North Western Provincial Environmental statue, the Director North Western Environmental Authority can issue a directive to suspend this project immediately pending approval and enforce it through a court order in the event of non-compliance. However since this issue is under the purview of the Wild Life Conservation Department (WLCD) no other agency can give approval contrary to the powers vested in the WLCD,” said Gunawardena.
According to Chamikara, as per the State Land Ordinance it is strictly prohibited to develop forest land over 50 acres which is neither a national park nor a reserve without the approval of the WLCD, the Forest Department, Agrarian Services Department, Irrigation Department and Archeological Department as well as the respective District and Divisional Secretaries.
District Secretary Puttalam Kingsley Fernando told The Sunday Leader that these 245 acres have been given to the villagers for paddy cultivation and there is no necessity to obtain permission from other government departments as this had been initiated in 1991 and the project abandoned due to the threat posed by the LTTE. After the war was concluded, the land was demarcated and allocated to the villagers for cultivation.
When asked as to why he had failed to obtain the necessary approvals from the Central Environmental Authority, the WLCD, and the departments of Agrarian Services, Forest, Irrigation and Archeology, as per the State Land Ordinance, Fernando said that there is no necessity for such approvals.
“This is not a decision taken by me but by the District and Divisional Coordinating Committees. This land does not belong to the Wilpattu buffer zone or the Forest Department; hence there is no need to go for an EIA report. In addition these regulations may not have existed in 1991,” he added.
Refuting this claim, Chamikara said that an EIA report would have to be obtained, since no development work had taken place after the original decision had been taken in 1991.
Divisional Secretary Wanathawilluwa Mahinda Jayasinghe when contacted by The Sunday Leader said that an EIA report has not been obtained to develop this land. “These lands had been given in 1991 during my predecessor’s tenure. I came to Wanathawilluwa only in 2002. For the time being 65 acres have been cleared and the rest will be cleared in due course,” he said.
Chairman Wanathawilluwa Pradeshiya Sabha Douglas, Indika Senadheera told The Sunday Leader that deforestation is devastating the environment and that nothing could be done as long as the government is silent over these issues. He also accused government officials of bypassing rules and regulations with regard to Wilpattu.
“Illegal sand mining in Wilpattu is being done by none other than Navy personnel. I once got the police to confiscate a lorry transporting sand illegally, but the very next day the Navy got the vehicle released,” claimed Senadheera.
Chairman Central Environmental Authority (CEA) Charitha Herath told The Sunday Leader that no party had obtained an EIA report before clearing the said land, adding that engagement in such development work without an EIA report is a punishable offence.
Director General, Wild Life Conservation Department (WLCD) H. D. Ratnayake too said that he has not given any approval for such a project and asked The Sunday Leader to speak with Forest Department officials.
When contacted, the Puttalam District Additional Forest Officer said that the Divisional Secretary Wanathawilluwa had ordered the State Timber Corporation to fell the trees.
Land Commissioner General R. P. R Rajapakse when contacted said that he was unable to comment since he was not sure of this particular issue.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Deputy General Manager (Operations) State Timber Corporation (STC), N.V. Karunaratne said that the Divisional Secretary Wanathawilluwa had on three occasions ordered the STC to cut and remove the trees by a letters dated March 21, 2011 (to cut and remove 878 trees), April 7, 2011 (to cut and remove an additional 855 trees and April 19, 2011 (yet another 1028 trees). Of these 2761 trees the STC has currently only felled 643 trees, he added.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/10/02/sri-lanka%E2%80%99s-forests-will-soon-be-gone/
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