News
Kirielle asks President to visit his Hantane property and see if there has been any environmental damage
By Saman Indrajith
Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella yesterday said that he was ready to give a land belonging to him at Hantana for an environmetnal project of the state and extended an open invitation to the President, government officials and media to come and see for themselves or to hold an investigation on the ownership of the land.
Addressing the media at the Opposition Leaders’ office in Colombo, MP Kiriella said that the President at a recent meeting had spoken about the land in Hantana, claiming that none was talking about clearing forest in Hantana area by a senior minister of a former government. “Nobody talks about it because there was no environmental destruction. If there had been destruction of the environment, the media and environmental organisations would have already been there. I invite the President and his officials or any organisation with an interest including the media to come and see what really this is about,” MP Kiriella said.
He said: This is a land of which the documents are older than 100 years. We have the ownership for 30 years and prior to that it belonged to white men for 70 years. Tea and pepper had been cultivated there but it had been abandoned for years in recent times, as I had no time to attend to them because of my active politics. The land comes in the area of Hantana Reserve that was declared in 2010. This is a land where tea and pepper had been cultivated about 90 years back. In the 1980s I even applied to cultivate tea to the Tea Smallholding Authority. Although the Hantana area was declared a reserve we do not lose our ownership. Any such land could be cultivated but it should be informed to the Hantana Committee under the chairmanship of the district secretary. When there was an agricultural drive under the present government, I instructed my family members to see whether we could start cultivating that land. They removed the shrub to enter the land and it is now being described as clearance of forest. Anyone has a right to enter his or her land in this country. None can prevent a rightful owner of a land entering his or her land and there is no need to get prior permission to it.
“I and my family members do full time politics so we are not disturbed by allegations, but there is a duty for the media to find the truth. There are 12 buildings in a land adjacent to my land and five of them have been constructed after 2010. Those buildings have not yet even been registered in the Pradeshiya Sabha and they do not even pay rates.
“Before 2015, I offered to donate this land to a bhikkhu from Weliweriya to build a monastery there. Ven Bhikkhu visited the land but pointed out that he would not have the environment of a temple there because there is a holiday resort in the adjacent land. I have no desire for this land which I have once offered to the Maha Sangha. We are a family that has thousands of acres of land. We still have Sannasa given to our great great grandfather Kirielle Jayasekera Mudiyanse by King Keerti Sri Rajansinghe in 1761 giving him 10,000 acres of nindagam for his services to capture several Dutch fortresses in the Southern province. My wife’s grandfather is the Mahawalatenna Rate Mahattaya of Balangoda who owned thousands of acres. Some of those lands were taken over by the government under the land reform laws leaving 50 acres. So we are not a family that has a craving for lands.
I am ready to discuss with the government to offer this land for an eco-sensitive project. There is no point in talking in air-conditioned rooms about environment protection. I therefore invite you all to come and see for yourselves the truth.
The Purawesi Balaya organisation yesterday (24) lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, requesting an investigation into the alleged overpayment of Rs. 200 million in detention charges for 40 container trucks used in the removal of waste from the distressed ship X-Press Pearl.
According to the complaint, the waste from the ship was transported from a temporary yard in Wattala to the storage yard in Pamunugama using 40 containers, for which an excessive amount — approximately Rs. 200 million — had been paid as detention fees. This information has reportedly been included in the 2021 annual report of the Marine Environment Protection Authority
(MEPA), as cited in a report submitted to Parliament by the National Audit Office.After lodging the complaint Purawesi Balaya Chairman Jamuni Kamantha Thushara said that they hoped the CIABOC would conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
By Sujeewa Thathsara
The main suspect in the shooting and killing of political activist Dan Priyasad had been arrested, the police said yesterday. Investigators suspect that notorious Mohommad Najim Mohommad Imran alias Kanjipani Imran, who is taking refuge in Dubai, ordered Priyasad’s killing.
The suspect is a resident of Wellampitiya.
The convenor of the “Nawa Sinhale National Movement” and political activist, Dan Priyasad, was fatally shot at the ‘Laksanda Sevana’ Housing Complex in Wellampitiya on Tuesday (22) night. He was initially admitted to the Colombo National
Hospital with gunshot wounds, but passed away shortly after due to the severity of his injuries. Priyasad was reportedly shot four times—twice in the chest and twice in the shoulder. Additionally, another individual who sustained minor injuries during the incident is also currently receiving treatment in hospital.
It is reported that two individuals, who had arrived on a motorcycle, fired multiple shots using a pistol before fleeing the scene.
As of yesterday evening police had taken into custody seven persons including two women for questioning related to Priyasad’s murder.
According to police, the contract was arranged by a three-wheeler owner named Dulan, also a resident of Wellampitiya. Dulan is currently in police custody and has provided investigators with key information. It was revealed that Dulan is related to the father and son duo who are the main suspects in a previous case involving the murder of Dan Priyasad’s younger brother. Dulan reportedly informed them that Dan continued to harass him.
The conflict reportedly escalated on April 20, when Dan Priyasad allegedly assaulted Dulan during an altercation in Wellampitiya, also damaging his three-wheeler with a sharp weapon. Dulan later discussed the incident with the father and son, who in turn contacted underworld criminal Grandpass Danushka in Dubai. Danushka, a close associate of Kanjipani Imran, informed him of the issue as well.
Imran, who reportedly had his own grudge against Dan Priyasad, allegedly agreed to support the murder plan and instructed that two contract killers be engaged to carry out the hit.
Dulan did not complain to the police about damage to his three-wheeler but instead had another individual file a complaint on his behalf — believed to be an attempt to distance himself from the murder plot.
The assassination was initially planned for April 21 in front of the Wellampitiya Police Station, when Dan Priyasad was expected to appear in relation to that complaint. However, he did not show up, and the attempt failed. Later that night, the killers struck while Dan was at a family gathering.
So far, police have questioned nearly 20 individuals in connection with the case. A special police team has been deployed to locate the missing father and son, but multiple searches of suspected hideouts have yielded no results.
By Norman Palihawadane and Hemantha Randunu
The government has declared April 26, 2025 (Saturday), a National Day of Mourning in view of late Pope Francis’ funeral, the Ministry of Public Administration announced.
Pope Francis’ funeral has been scheduled for Saturday in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican announced following a meeting of the College of Cardinals at the Catholic Church’s city-state headquarters in the heart of Rome.
The coffin carrying the pope, who died Monday morning after suffering a stroke and heart failure at the age of 88, was brought in a procession on Wednesday morning to the basilica from his residence at Casa Santa Marta, where he died.
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