By Gagani Weerakoon and Risidra Mendis
Wilpattu National Park, it seems, no longer belongs to the
geographical landscape of Sri Lanka, as it has gained its place in the
political landscape of the country. The political and communal twist however,
poses a threat of marring the real environmental and social issues involved.
The ongoing deforestation in the name of resettling
Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) would not only result in reducing the area
of this 'Land of Lakes' but would also aggravate the already acute problem of
human-elephant conflict, as predicted by environmentalists.
Minister of Trade and Commerce Rishard Bathiudeen who was
accused of being responsible for getting a colony created with funding from
Qatar has now issued an open challenge to environmentalists and other parties
with vested interest, to prove that there are Pakistanis among those who have been
resettled.
What Minister Bathiudeen and those who are involved in
giving a communal twist to the whole matter have failed to understand is that
the crux of the matter is not the ethnicity of those being resettled but the
clearing of forest land and invading wildlife habitats.
On the other hand, Conservation Biologists have opined that
the trees that were felled to clear the area for a colony are over 50-60 years
old. This shuns the claim that the same lands were inhabited by the same people
or anyone else some two decades ago- before the country's ethnic war forced
them to leave the area.
"I have not resettled Muslims within the Wilpattu
National Park and have not engaged in any illegal activities as claimed by the
media. Some media institutions have blackened my name by accusing me of
destroying the Wilpattu National Park by resettling Muslims in this area. It
was I who worked towards resettling not only Muslims but also Sinhalese people
displaced by the war," Bathiudeen said.
"I invite all media to tour the Wilpattu area with me
and am prepared to walk with you wherever you want me to go to prove that there
are no illegal settlers in this area. I am in total support of re-settling
whoever was displaced in the North, Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims.
However, when Ceylon Today questioned the Minister as to
whether an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) was conducted by the Central
Environment Authority (CEA) prior to the land being cleared of all vegetation,
he said, to check those details with the Divisional Secretariat of the area.
Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena has directed the
Secretary to the Ministry of Environment to carry out an impartial
investigation into the matter as fresh calls were made to stop resettlements.
Beginning of an end
"Sri Lanka is slowly becoming barren due to the rapid
destruction of forests. The lowland wet zone in the country has already
depleted and we are surviving on the dry zone forests. Sri Lanka is a Bio
Diversity Hot Spot and if we continue to clear forest land at this rate we will
end up with desert land," Conservation Biologist Ranil Nanayakkara explained.
He added some of the trees that were destroyed while the
forest land was being cleared were around 50 to 60 years old and that these
areas could not have been inhabited by people 20 years ago.
"If these people were living in this area there should
be some tell tale signs or structures. Some of the trees that were cut down
were palu trees, of about 50 to 60 years old. The Sloth Bear feeds on the palu
berries and cutting these trees will have an adverse effect on the bears.
The destroying of the forest will also seriously affect the
leopard, the elephant and all other animals that live in the jungle. The people
living in these areas go into the jungle to collect the palu berries. If these
people get attacked by a bear or leopard they will take revenge on the animal
by killing it. Resettling people in these areas will lead to poaching. Wilpattu
has many natural willus (lakes) that are fed through ground water and these
willus could dry up due to the deforestation," Nanayakkara said.
Many environmental organizations including the Environment
Foundation (Guarantee) Limited (EFL) and the Green Movement has sought legal
redress to solve the matter.
"It all began with the construction of a road. When the
road construction was underway, we wrote to the authorities to stop it. Finally
we went to Court. When the land was being cleared for 'Jassim City' we brought
it to the notice of the CEA, but they failed to take action. The Forest
Department gave the land and the construction was carried out without a proper
procedure. Environment Impact Assessments have not been carried out. These
lands were given by a committee represented by all stakeholders including
Divisional Secretaries. It is up to environment authorities to act according to
the National Environment Act, but they have failed to do so," Vimukthi
Weeratunga, Director EFL said.
He said the move by the authorities will lead to various
other problems in the future as well.
More dangerous situation
"People were settled in Mahaweli lands without a proper
assessment and today they are clashing with elephants. In this case the
authorities have put people in a more dangerous situation as it is not only
elephant attacks the settlers will come under but attacks from leopards as
well," he said.
EFL, in a letter dated 13 March 2013, had urged the Chairman
of the Central Environment Authority Wimal Rubesinghe, to immediately stop the
ongoing construction in Wilpattu.
"We have come to know that there are moves to settle
Muslim families on forest lands coming under the purview of the Forest
Department in the Mullativu and Vavuniya Districts."
It was further stated that the land earmarked for the
settlement has a total area of 2,388 acres. Apart from this block of land, an
additional 850 acres has been requested for the same purpose from Maritimepattu
in the Mullaitivu District and another undisclosed area of land from the Mannar
District.
Over 500 acres in the northern parts of the Wilpattu
Sanctuary have been destroyed due to the illegal resettlement activities, in
complete breach of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO) and the
National Environment Act. This situation is reflected in the Northern and
Eastern Provinces too.
What is the law?
Environment Lawyer Jagath Gunewardene commenting on the
illegal resettlement in the Wilpattu National Park said according to Section
23AA of the National Environment Act (NEA) if more than one hectare of forest
land is cleared or more than 100 houses are to be built on forest land an
Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) has to be done by the Project Opponent at
his own cost.
"The EIA has to be sent to the Central Environment
Authority (CEA) and the Forest Department for approval. The Divisional
Secretariat is not the Project Opponent and cannot approve the EIA. This act is
also illegal according to Part 4C of the NEA since the project opponent has not
got the relevant legal approval.
If the said structures are within the Forest Reserves it is
illegal and if resettlement has taken place inside the Wilpattu National Park
that is in violation of Section 7 of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance
(FFPO)," Gunewardene said.
If any development activity is taking place within a
one-mile distance inside the border of a national park in the buffer zone, an
Environmental Impact Assessment must be carried out for the Central Environment
Authority's approval. The same applies according to the National Environment
Act, for any development activity taking place 100 metres inside a sanctuary's
border.
Clearing of jungles in a sanctuary, road construction,
constructing of temporary or permanent settlements, residing in them, the
destruction of areas populated by wild animals, are all violations of the
Ordinance, punishable with fines ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 and also
carrying two to five-year prison sentences.
According to Section 23AA of the National Environmental Act,
under Part IV(C), any prescribed project needs an environmental approval before
commencement of activities.
The list of 'Prescribed Projects' is provided in the
regulations published in Gazette Extraordinary No.772/22 of 24.06.1993.
In this list, any use of 'forest land' for a non-forest
purpose is declared as a prescribed activity. The term 'Forest' as defined
under Section 78 of the Forest Conservation Ordinance, means any land at the
disposal of the State. Thus, any State land not declared under the Forest
Conservation Ordinance or any other written law, falls under this category.
In an instance where a 'prescribed' activity has been
initiated without due environmental clearance, Section 24BB of the National
Environmental Act empowers the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) to issue a
Directive ordering that all such activities need to be suspended till such
approval is obtained.
If this Directive is not heeded by the responsible parties,
the CEA can get an order from a Court that has jurisdiction over the area, to
stop all such activities (under Section 24 BB(2)) till the necessary approval
has been obtained.
The entire illegal resettlement programme in Wilpattu has so
far, consumed 3,000 hectares of forest and sanctuary areas belonging to the
Department of Forest Conservation governed by the Forest Ordinance.
PETITION
A petition signed by Concerned Citizens of the World to the
leader of Qatar, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani states that funds given from
the Qatar Government "are fuelling the illegal destruction of elephant
habitat around Wilpattu National Park in Sri Lanka, in particular the Jassim
City project (named after and funded by a charity that carries the name of the
President of Qatar."
The petition says this destruction started shortly after
high level talks between the Kingdom of Qatar and the Government of Sri Lanka
after Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani met
with former Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, who also had the
Ministry of Wildlife and Minister Trade and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen. The
petition further states that the Kingdom of Qatar would have been misinformed
by the Government of Sri Lanka on the details of the resettlement.
"Due to the evidence available of the illegal nature of
this settlement, which is also creating new zones of human/elephant conflict
and religious tensions, we respectfully request the Kingdom of Qatar to halt
the funding of Jassim City. We also respectfully request that independent
environmental impact studies be done on all projects being funded by Qatar in
Sri Lanka and to take appropriate actions based on the results of these
studies,".
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