News
Environment Minister ready to issue gazette notification to protect endangered animal and tree species in SL
by Ifham Nizam
Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that he is prepared to issue a gazette notification to take necessary conservation measures to protect endangered animal and tree species in Sri Lanka.
Stressing the importance of protecting the biodiversity especially to protect fauna and flora species, he expressed concern over some 35 species of amphibians in the world becoming extinct in the last decade.
Twenty one of them are endemic to Sri Lanka, the Minister noted, adding that environment scientists have pointed out to him the threat faced by the species.
Madhava Meegaskumbura, the co-chair of the National Amphibian Specialist Group, said that when it comes Sri Lanka’s latest records on the state of the country’s amphibians, of the 116 species currently recognized from Sri Lanka, 72 are threatened with extinction.
“Twenty of them were assessed as critically endangered; which means that unless recovery programs are designed and implemented immediately, they stand a high risk of becoming extinct,” he said
Ecologists and environmental journalists pointed out that some flora and fauna are in danger of extinction due to the lack of proper attention.
Around 10 other endangered tree species have been identified in the country, especially the Crudia Zylanica in Mirigama, Gampaha.
Environmentalists have appealed to the Minister to issue a gazette notification prohibiting the cutting or destruction of environmental resources.
The Minister has asked environmental organizations to provide him with information on the endangered species of flora and fauna.
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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