News
Sanctuary land grab: President hoodwinked?
By Ifham Nizam
Plans are underway to degazette more land area from the Dahayiyagala sanctuary which acts as a corridor for the elephants in the Udawalawa National Park and Lunugamwehere National Park.
A senior official of the Forest Department told The Island yesterday that despite their objections, land clearance was continuing and already between 250 and 300 acres of forest had been destroyed.
Villagers would meet the Forest Department officials tomorrow to spell out their stance, he said, adding that some villagers had been forced by local politicians to part with their land.
Elephants frequently used the corridor for reaching the ‘salt lick’ at the Bogaha Pattiya area, an authority on Elephants, Supun Lahiru Prakash of the Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle told The Island.
He said a mineral lick, also known as a salt lick, was a place where animals went to lick essential mineral nutrients from a deposit of salts and other minerals. Mineral licks were either naturally occurring or artificial (such as blocks of salt that farmers place in pastures for livestock to lick).
“The act of blocking this corridor used by elephants that live in the Udawalawa and Lunugamwehere National Parks will further restrict their home range and the ultimate outcome will be escalation of human-elephant conflict in the area,” he warned.
Politicians and local administrative officers were also trying to mislead President Gotabaya Rajapksa and use him to legalize the illegal land grab, he said.
Prakash pointed out that the culprits had organised a ‘Gama Samaga Pilisandara’ programme in the particular area and the selected location was also in the sanctuary where the land had been illegally cleared and encroached.
Some 2586 hectares of land were gazetted as the Dahayiyagala sanctuary on 7th June 2002.
The government, under heavy Opposition fire over inclusion of a sex website in the Grade 6 English module, as well as overall education reforms, has decided to put on hold reforms in respect of Grade 6.
Cabinet Spokesman and Media and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa announced the government decision yesterday (13) at the post-Cabinet media briefing at the Information Department.
According to him, the decision had been taken at the previous day’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Dr. Jayatissa said that education reforms pertaining to Garde 6 had been put on hold until 2027.
The Minister said that other proposed education reforms would be implemented as planned. The Minister said that action would be taken against those responsible for the inclusion of a link to a sex website following investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department and the National Education Institute.
The SJB and several other political parties, as well as civil society groups, have accused the government of promoting an LGBTQ agenda, through the proposed education reforms.
The Opposition grouping Mahajana Handa, on Monday, made representations to the Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatta Chapter regarding the controversial reforms, while urging their intervention to halt the project.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (13) vowed to go ahead with his government’s agenda, regardless of the destruction caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Emphasising the responsibility on the part of all to contribute to the post-Ditwah recovery efforts, President Dissanayake said that he would have complete faith in the public service.
The President said so at the launch of the re-building Sri Lanka project at the BMICH yesterday.
The JVP and NPP leader said that he wouldn’t take advantage of the death and destruction caused by the cyclone or use the situation as an excuse to reverse their agenda or weaken it.
President Dissanayake said that in spite of many calling for amending the then Budget, in view of the cyclone, the government presented the proposals that were agreed before the disaster struck.
The United States has announced that it will provide the Sri Lanka Air Force with 10 US Navy TH-57 helicopters free of charge.
The announcement was made by outgoing US Ambassador Julie Chung, who stated, on social media, that the helicopters would be transferred under the United States’ Excess Defence Articles programme. The aircraft are Bell 206 Sea Ranger helicopters previously operated by the US Navy.
US sources said that the transfer was intended to strengthen Sri Lanka’s disaster response capabilities, following the devastating cyclone that struck the island at the end of 2025 and killed more than 600 people. US officials have framed the move as a humanitarian measure aimed at improving aerial rescue and relief operations.
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