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So-called experts blind to what is exacerbating human-elephant conflict

Published

2 years ago

2023/08/5

A wild elephant being prepared for translocation after encroaching into human settlements. Image courtesy of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC).

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Given that abusive land use patterns are the main reason for human-elephant conflict, one of the best ways to address this issue is the establishment of the National Land Commission, as stipulated by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, environmentalist Sajeewa Chamikara told The Island.

The establishment of the Commission will minimize the ability of the governments to misuse land to benefit their political and business allies, at the expense of public welfare and the environment, he said.

“There is a lot of talk about full implementation of the 13A. However, no one talks about the Land Commission because this will be politically inconvenient,” he said.

Addendum II of the 9th schedule of the 13th Amendment states that a National Land Commission must be established. One of the main tasks of the National Land Commission is the preparation of a National Land Policy. However, the National Land Commission has not been established yet, although the 13th Amendment was passed in 1987, he said.

“The law states that the government must establish a National Land Commission, that it must prepare a National Land Policy and that representatives from all provinces must be represented in this Commission. The Commission needs a secretariat that has the technical capacity to analyze the social, economic and physical aspects of land use. The law also states that the National Land Policy must be based on science and not on political or ethnic factors. The Commission must look at soil, weather, rainfall, soil erosion, forest cover, environmental and economic factors and come up with general principles on land use. The Provincial Councils must implement their policies, based on the National Land Policy,” he said.

None of the governments have been interested in implementing this because it can prevent land grabbing and deforestation to the benefit of the rich and powerful, he said.

Chamikara said that even the biggest proponents of 13A ignore this provision because almost everyone is tied to big business.He pointed out that there are several bad land use practices that are intensifying the human-elephant conflict.

One of the main reasons for increasing the human-elephant conflict is that the elephants are running out of food, inside the forests, due to human activities, the environmentalist said.

He said that in Hambantota a large number of cattle are let loose in Lunugamvehera, Udawalawa, Madura Oya and Gal Oya national parks due to the influence of parliamentarians. The cows eat plants that are usually consumed by elephants, and other wild animals, and this has resulted in elephants entering human settlements in search of fodder.

“Some people, who live close to the forests, expand their farmlands and build new houses, after cutting down trees. In the past few decades, several invasive plant species, too, have spread into forests, replacing plants that were consumed by animals. Moreover, forests are increasingly getting fragmented, and the government has no plans to control these developments. All these compel elephants to enter villages,” he said commenting on the increased human- elephant conflict in Hambantota.

Chamikara said that the attempts to regrow forests with trees that only have value as timber, i.e., teak, also contribute to the human-elephant conflict because these trees do not provide food for animals. Another factor that attracts elephants to these villages is the establishment of garbage dumps. Elephants and other animals who have been starved are attracted to these garbage dumps.

“The Cabinet paper, titled ‘Taking action to prevent elephants from being attracted to garbage dumps,‘ which was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, on 30 May, 2017, stated that there are 54 such garbage dumps that are attracting elephants. These sites are located in the dry and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka,” he said.

In addition, some people, who live in the dry and intermediate zones, set fire to forests during the dry season (July/September). This is another reason for elephants to come into villages. The recent forest fire that destroyed over 2,000 palmyrah trees in Kilinochchi can be one such fire, he said.

“There are a large number of forests, where elephants live, that come under the purview of the Mahaweli Authority and the Forest Conservation Department. However, when electric fences are established,the above-mentioned forests are ignored often and only forests that come under the Wildlife Conservation Department are fenced. Moreover, some of these fences are erected, obstructing the paths elephants use to reach tanks during the dry season. In recent years, a number of human settlements have been established, covering the above-mentioned paths,” he said.

In recent times, companies and powerful businessmen, who run large scale commercial agricultural projects and other development projects, have started erecting electric fences without considering how these would affect the human-elephant conflict, Chamikara said. These leave villages, and the farms of small scale farmers, more exposed to elephants.

“Most of the electric fences are substandard, are not properly maintained, and bio barriers have not been established along the fences. These make these fences ineffective,” he said.

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Related Topics:establishment Government Madura Oya National Land Commission

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President proposes; Speaker disposes

Published

7 hours ago

2026/01/12

Thilina Walpola

Dr. Wickramaratne

AKD’s request to Harsha:

Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne has frustrated an attempt by Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP, to intervene to settle the continuing dispute over the appointment of a new Auditor General.

Dr. De Silva yesterday told The Island he had recently written to all members of the Constitutional Council (CC) drawing their attention to the urgent need to address the issue at hand. The AG’s position remains vacant since 08 Dec, 2025. AG W.P.C. Wickremanayake retired in April and since then there have been a couple of Acting appointments. The CC has declined to endorse any of President Dissanayake’s nominees as the AG.

Asked whether he had taken up the issue with the CC following President Anura Kumara Dissanayake soliciting his support in this regard, MP de Silva said that he had written to CC members as agreed with the President.

The former UNPer and one-time State Minister said: “I did so, giving due respect to CC’s independence, underscoring the critical importance in them working with the President to resolve the crisis. I alluded to the need to have transparency in public financial management during this post-cyclone period where large amounts of funds are being transacted on multiple fronts, both domestic and foreign.”

Responding to another query, Dr. De Silva emphasised that he had clarified that the President must send the names of qualified and experienced persons to the CC for consideration. “However, these letters were returned to me by the Speaker, without being delivered to members of the CC. The Speaker didn’t give an explanation. Thus, except for members who are MPs who had been copied via email by my committee office, others never received my letter of concern. Even though I questioned, in Parliament, the basis of his refusal to forward my communication to the members of the CC of which he is Chairman, no answer was given.”

The CC consists of Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, Speaker and Chairman of the 10-member body. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister, Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition, Bimal Rathnayake, Aboobucker Athambawa, Ajith P. Perera, Sivagnanam Shritharan, and three civil society members namely Dr. Prathap Ramanujam, Dr. Dilkushi Anula Wijesundere and Dr. Dinesha Samararatne. None of the President’s nominees could obtain CC’s approval as all of them were rejected by the CC.

The present CC was introduced by the 21st Amendment to the Constitution which was endorsed on 31 October 2022.

Both the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and the Transparency International Sri Lanka Chapter recently requested President Dissanayake, in writing, to propose a suitable person to the post of AG. The BASL, in another statement that dealt with the forthcoming vacancies in the CC due to three civil society members completing their terms, declared its concern over possible attempts by the President and the NPP government to fill the vacancies with rubber stamps.

The three civil society members will complete their terms on 18 January. In terms of Article 41E of the Constitution, the CC meets at least twice every month, and may meet as often as may be necessary. The Chairman presides at all meetings of the CC and in the absence of the Chairman, the Prime Minister, and in the absence of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition presides at the meetings of the CC.

Asked whether the CC could be disrupted due to the end of civil society members’ terms, an authoritative official pointed out that in case new appointments were not made the current members could continue.

The Parliament has not so far called for applications to fill the forthcoming vacancies.

by Shamindra Ferdinando ✍️

News

Sri Lanka loses Rs.7.5 bn due to coal tender irregularities: FSP

Published

7 hours ago

2026/01/12

Thilina Walpola

Pubudu

The NPP government’s coal procurement process has once again come under scrutiny following allegations by the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) that substandard coal has been imported for power generation and that tender procedures were manipulated to favour a specific supplier.

Addressing the media after a party meeting in Maharagama on Saturday, FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jagoda said a test report issued by the government laboratory at the Lakvijaya Power Plant had confirmed that the latest coal shipment unloaded in Sri Lanka did not meet the required quality standards. According to the report, the coal’s calorific value ranged between 5,600 and 5,800 kilocalories per kilo, below the 5,900–6,200 kCal/kg range specified in tender requirements.

Jagoda warned that lower calorific value coal would require higher volumes to generate the same amount of electricity, increasing costs significantly. Preliminary estimates, he said, indicated an additional financial burden of around Rs. 7,500 million, which might eventually be passed on to consumers through higher electricity tariffs.

The FSP also accused the government of tailoring procurement rules to benefit the Indian supplier, which has deposited bonds for long-term coal supply for the upcoming season. Jagoda alleged that tender conditions had been altered to accommodate the company, pointing to changes in coal reserve requirements. Under the 2021 Sri Lanka Coal Registration Document, suppliers were required to maintain a minimum reserve of one million metric tonnes with a gross calorific value of 5,900 kCal/kg. This threshold, he said, had been reduced to 100,000 metric tonnes in the 2025 document which is a 90% reduction raising serious concerns.

He further cited past allegations against the Indian company, including findings in a 2016 Auditor General’s report that the company violated procurement guidelines regarding a rice supply contract with Sathosa in 2014. Jagoda also referred to legal issues involving individuals linked to the company, and the suspension of a representative by the International Cricket Council in 2019 over match-fixing allegations.

Beyond company-specific concerns, Jagoda criticised what he described as systemic manipulation of the coal tender process. He questioned why the coal tender, typically called in February or March, was delayed until July, despite electricity being declared an essential service. He also alleged that the tender submission period had been progressively shortened from the internationally accepted six weeks to five weeks, and now reportedly to three giving an unfair advantage to suppliers with existing stock.

The Ministry of Energy has recently issued an amended tender to procure 4.5 million metric tonnes of coal for the Lanka Coal Company for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 periods, following the cancellation of an earlier tender.

Jagoda warned that delays and irregularities could lead to coal shortages, higher spot market purchases, increased electricity costs, and even power cuts if hydropower generation falls short. He called for urgent investigations into the procurement process, insisting that the burden of alleged mismanagement and corruption must not be transferred to the public.

by Chaminda Silva ✍️

News

CID summons SJB MP for criticising education reforms

Published

7 hours ago

2026/01/12

Thilina Walpola

Prasad

SJB Gampaha District MP Prasad Siriwardhana has been summoned to the CID today (12) for questioning in connection with a statement he made on a private television channel regarding education reforms.

He was earlier asked to report to the CID on 10 January to make a statement. However, as Siriwardhana had notified the authorities that he was unable to appear on that day, he was subsequently asked to come today.

Siriwardhana is one of the critics of the shortcomings of the education reforms introduced by the NPP government.