News
Forest Department draws up plan for replanting destroyed Kallaru forest
By Ifham Nizam
The Forest Department would decide with a team of legal experts how to implement a recent Court of Appeal judgment order the reforestation of the Kallaru forest reserve in the Wilpattu National Park buffer zone, a senior Department official said.
When contacted, Forest Conservator General W.A. C. Weragoda told The Island that they were in the process of working out a plan, which would be ready as per the court ruling.
Weragoda said that initially money had to be deposited in a government account. However, he said that the amount had to be estimated first.
In response to a query regarding damage that had been caused to the biodiversity, especially to fauna, he said animals would return when the forest was regrown.
The Centre for Environmental Justice Executive Director Hemantha Withanage told The Island that the cost of replanting the forest would be double as it was in the dry zone and the saplings had to be taken care of for at least for ten years.
He estimated it to cost roughly around Rs. 5,000 million, but said it could be more.
Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the government would not hand over the task of replanting saplings in the destroyed Kallaru forest to MP Rishad Bathiudeen, who is responsible for the destruction of the forest.
“We are also preparing a report the forest destruction. We will also submit a report on the cost. Some ask me if I will hand over the task of planting saplings in the destroyed Kallaru forest to Bathiudeen.”
According to the court order, all he had to do was to pay the amount estimated by the Department of Forest Conservation, the Ministry of Wildlife and the CEA.
Replanting of Kallaru forest would be done by the Forest Department, Minister Amaraweera said, adding that the Ministry of Environment and the CEA would oversee it.
The Minister praised the Chairman, Executive Director and other officials of the Centre for Environmental Justice, who fought to the court case.
He also said that the judgment had set a good precedent on how to take action against those who relentlessly destroyed the environment.
“Some people think that they can get away with their crimes with the help of thier wealth. Due to the factual reporting carried out by all the media in this country on the destruction of the Wilpattu forest, the issue received wide publicity and justice was served.”
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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