National Committee Member of the SYU Sanjaya Wishwanath flanked by Colombo District Organiser Anjana Sampath Amarasinghe (Left) and National Organizer Eranga Gunasekera addressing media at the JVP headquarters in Pelawatte yesterday,

By Saman Indrajith

The JVP’s youth wing Socialist Youth Union yesterday alleged that around 10,000 acres of forests had been cleared since the new government came to power.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte yesterday, National Organizer of the SYU Eranga Gunasekera said development did not mean increasing the number of concrete buildings at the expense of the environment. “We received information that Dahaiyagala forest in Thanamalwila was being cleared on Jan 30. Our members visited the area on Feb 20 and 21 and witnessed that around 1,000 acres had been cleared. We have videos and photos to prove that trees that are older than 75-100 years have been felled. According to villagers the jungle had been cleared to help a businessman who is building a resort in the jungle. Two acres in Anavilundawa Ramsar wetland site had been bulldozed. Ten acres of Vanathavilluwa jungle had been cleared up. We have information that 5,426 acres in the Galawalayaya jungle belonging to the Veddah people have been cleared. A crony businessman of the government has been given permission to grow aloe vera in 1,500 acres of Wilapattu jungle. Another businessman has been given permission to clear 150 acres in the Ratmale reserve in Horowpathana. Seven hundred acres of the Muthurajawela marshland jungle has been bulldozed. Two and half acres of Kurunegala Rajapeela forest have been cleared. Ten acres of another forest in Agundawa in the Sigiriya have been cleared by another government crony businessman. An extent of eight acres is being cleared in Gotiyagama in Sinharaja. Twenty one acres of Thabbowa jungle in Kruwalagaswewa have been destroyed in the name of development. Ten acres of jungle near Kodagoda in Thanamalwila have been cleared. Regional politicians and businessmen friends of the ruling party are engaged in this destruction.”

“In these cases the clearings have been done using bulldozers. Everybody knows that the villagers in nearby areas cannot afford to hire bulldozers and those jungle clearings have been done by very powerful politicians and their businessmen cronies,” he said.

 Gunasekera said that the incumbent government and its Viyathmaga group were critical of what the previous government had done. “The Vistas of Splendour manifesto promised to increase the country’s forest cover by 30 per cent but their acts are totally opposite of the promises they made,” he said

 National Committee Member of the SYU Sanjaya Wishwanath said that the past year would go on the records someday as the one which witnessed the highest number of destruction inflicted on the environment. “We are planning to line up the youth of this country against the environment destruction. We are planning to stage countrywide protests. We hope those who love the environment will line up with us to save the environment.”

Colombo District Organiser of SYU Anjana Sampath Amarasinghe also addressed the press.