The land-grabbing frenzy

The write-ups and the talks have been numerous: from the editors of newspapers (The Island, in particular), both professional and freelance journalists, environmentalists, concerned citizenry and down to that schoolgirl, who must have made many a self-proclaimed patriot clad in white and otherwise shrink in shame, when she gave her speech. That is if the listeners, or a good majority of them sitting in the front rows, have a conscience and a genuine regard for the well-being of the country, which I doubt.

Now back to the title of this letter: The land grabbing and forest clearing have now risen to levels that have never been seen before. And one wonders: if this maddening onslaught on our forests, wildlife reserves, wetlands et al., continues, how Mother Lanka now being denuded with such ferocity and impunity, is going to look in the very near future? Once an island full of luxuriant forests and thick jungles, is now slowly being transformed, by mindless humans, into a land more of concrete and brown, and much less green.

It seems that even the genuinely concerned officials can do nothing much about the destruction, but only complaining and reporting. No wonder, those wielding the axe are backed by the political might of some, who wouldn’t give two hoots about the consequences that are sure to come in the wake of this relentless destruction of our forests, wildlife reserves and rivers.

And those who dare to stand in the way of these scumbags are amply though bizarrely rewarded, by way of prohibitions and reprimands. Is it not despicable and disgusting? It looks like only the members of some environmental protection societies, editors of newspapers, journalists and the concerned citizenry, are able to comment and criticise on this land-robbery without fear of being found guilty of ‘something’, (the daring lady forest officer, who stepped into save the tree, is a case in point!) and escape the wrath of some of the government authorities.

The latest news is that the forest officers and the police will be reinforced by personnel from the armed forces, too, while carrying out raids, acting on tip offs or otherwise.

It is a tall order. We know who is involved, from the top and all the way down to the bottom, sitting on the ‘cutting, chopping, clearing and fencing hierarchy’. They all are in league with one another, headed or backed or both by those, who have enough political clout. Even some of the villagers may be involved, looking to own a piece of land for nothing. So the moment a raiding party is seen in the locality in question, the scumbags, who are busy with their dirty work, will be quickly notified by their scouts, giving them ample time to get away.

Therefore, catching them red-handed could be very difficult. Then there would be some with written authority from high-ups to carry out what they are doing. How the raiding parties are going to deal with them or someone like that Buddhist monk, who is said to have joined the party (pun intended) somewhere in Trincomalee, is another matter.

Lastly, my suggestion is: whilst continuing with the raids and the arrests, why not begin with the ones against whom there already exists enough evidence for unauthorised land grabbing, clearing and fencing; which is tantamount to grand scale theft of public property/assets and take legal action against them. This will serve as a deterrent to would-be land-grabbers and their supporters, too.

I sincerely hope this ‘Land-grabbing frenzy’ will soon be put to an end and those found guilty are put behind bars, without delay.

LAKSIRI WARNAKULA