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Karu: Army can help solve human-elephant conflict

Published

5 years ago

2021/01/23

Fraudster functioning as Chairman of state institution

The Army must play an active role in solving the human-elephant conflict, former Speaker, Karu Jayasuriya, Chairman of the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) told the media on Thursday.

Given that 70% of the elephant habitat were located in human-inhabited areas, Sri Lanka needed a well-planned methodology to deal with the human-elephant conflict, former Speaker, Jayasuriya said.

A lot of work on the issue had been already done by Sri Lankan researchers like Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya, Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando, Dr. AW Wijeratne and Supun Lahiru Prakash, Jayasuriya said.

Jayasuriya said that successive governments had ignored the proposals made by these experts and as a result, Sri Lanka had become the country with the highest number of elephant deaths in the world. Sri Lanka also had the second highest deaths of humans caused due to the human-elephant conflict.

“Various governments have promised to end the human-elephant conflict. But the problem is only worsening. Currently, 131 Divisional Secretariats in 19 districts in eight provinces are affected by the human-elephant conflict. Meanwhile, the conflict is rapidly escalating annually at a record rate.”

The human-elephant conflict can be seen from Hambantota in the South to the Madurankeni or Vadamarachchi East Divisional Secretariat at the Jaffna District in the North, Jayasuriya said adding that the findings of many world renowned Sri Lankan scholars who were respected and studied internationally but these scholars were ignored by decision makers in Sri Lanka.

“It is important to put up permanent electric fences as well as temporary electric fences around the paddy fields to protect settlements and cultivations against wild elephants. It is also important to carry out these activities through community based projects. At the same time, compensation for physical and property damage to the public must continue to be paid. As far as we know, no compensation has been paid for crop damage. Therefore, the government has to pay appropriate compensation for this damage. Also, in order to rid the country from this problem, an action plan needs to be planned at the national level.”

The former Speaker said that all relevant ministries and departments should be involved in solving the human-elephant conflict. A solution could be evolved through the active involvement of the Army as they did in the past during various disaster situations.

“A Presidential Task Force should be set up to provide the necessary facilities and guidance and oversee the implementation of an official plan. Only through such a joint process can the people of the country as well as the elephant resource be saved. We hope the government will pay attention to this.”

Jayasuriya said that a number of large scale frauds were being brazenly committed and that these large scale fraudsters should be brought to justice and punished.

“A person who resigned from his post because he was suspected of being either involved in or aiding such a massive fraud recently is working as the chairman of another institution which comes under the purview of the President. The government is not talking about the massive fraud of Rs. 10 billion that took place with his involvement. This is clearly a serious blow to the confidence that the people of this country have in the President. It will mar his reputation. He should understand that.”

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Landslide Early Warnings issued to the districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya extended

Published

9 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

The landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya by the Landslide Early Warning Center of the National Building Research Organisation have been extended till 0600 hrs on 15th February 2026.

Accordingly,
The Level II [AMBER] warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Walapane and Nildandahinna in the Nuwar Eliya district and the
Level I [YELLOW] warning issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Pathadumbara in the Kandy district have been extended.

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

10 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre at 11.30 a.m. 14 February 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 14 February 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and in Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts after 1.00 p.m. There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers.

The General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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Teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions – PM

Published

19 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the forthcoming two teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions pertaining to the ongoing legal proceedings and further noted that, taking into consideration the requests received, steps have been taken to make a request to Court’s approval to revise the conditions of the effective date of degree completion.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing a meeting held at Monaragala Royal College to brief education authorities of the Monaragala District on the new education reforms.

Under the new education reforms, Smart Boards will be provided to 132 schools in the Monaragala District as part of the program to equip secondary schools with modern technology. As a symbolic step under this initiative, Smart Boards were presented to 10 secondary schools under the Prime Minister’s patronage. This program is being implemented with the intervention of the Digital Task Force operating under the Prime Minister’s Office. It was also emphasized that a new digital policy, formulated with special attention to child protection, will be introduced in April.

As part of her visit to the Monaragala District on the 13 th of February, the Prime Minister observed the implementation of the new learning methodologies introduced for Grade One under the new education reforms. She visited Kumbukkana Sri Shanmugam Tamil Maha Vidyalaya and Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya in Monaragala to observe the educational activities of Grade One students.

Considering the increase of student numbers and the development of infrastructure facilities, the Prime Minister also approved a proposal submitted by the School Development Society to rename Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya as Monaragala Dharmaraja Maha Vidyalaya.

Teachers briefed the Prime Minister that the new education system, supported by revised workbooks and activity-based learning methods, has proven to be effective, with students participating enthusiastically.

Addressing education officials further at the meeting held at Monaragala Royal College, the Prime Minister stated:

“Although this will not provide a complete solution to the existing teacher vacancies, these examinations can offer considerable relief. According to the Court’s previous determination, the effective date of degree completion had been set as 30.06.2025. However, considering numerous requests and following the cabinet approval we have sought Court’s consent to revise this date. We will act in accordance with the decision granted.

Funds allocated for school infrastructure must be utilized transparently and in line with proper planning, and progress must be reported accordingly. We cannot move forward by dividing ourselves along national, provincial, rural, or urban lines. As education authorities, you must make swift and accurate decisions based on correct data.

Further, discussions are already underway within the Piriven Committee of the Ministry of Education to develop Piriven education and to address the issues faced by Piriven teachers.”

The event was attended by the members of the Maha Sangha, Uva Province Governor Attorney-at-Law Kapila Jayasekara, Deputy Minister of Trade and Commerce R.M. Jayawardhana, Member of Parliament Ajith Agalakada, Uva Provincial Education Secretary Nihal Gunarathne, and several officials from the education sector.