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| Sunday, 13 July 2003 |
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Writ against new township in Muthurajawela Sanctuary by SHANIKA SRIYANANDA The Environmental Foundation Ltd. (EFL) filed a Writ Application in the Court of Appeal, on July 4, opposing the decision by a politician to build a new township in part of the Muthurajawela Wetland Sanctuary. The politician from Katana is alleged to have set in motion a development project, with a modern township and a housing scheme for 20,000 families. Over 300 acres of the wetland's flora have been cleared since July 3. Environmentalists allege that more than 5,000 families from different parts of the island have encroached on the lands in the Muthurajawela Sanctuary and the surrounding marshy lands in Kiridigoda along Dandugamoya lake, which is the main waterway to the sanctuary. According to EFL, the encroached lands where around ten perch blocks have been allocated to each family, have already been partitioned and the mushrooming timber dwellings posed a major threat to the rich eco-system. The EFL alleged that no action has been taken by the authorities to stop the illegal encroachment despite complaints lodged with the police, the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Central Environment Authority. Hemantha Withanage, Executive Director and the Senior Environmental Scientist of the EFL,describing the decision to parcel out the wetland as short-sighted and ignorant, said no one can construct, fill or clear the forests that belong to a sanctuary. He said that land which is one of the largest saline coastal peat bogs in the country is not suitable for human settlement and warned that the Negombo town and the rest of the areas surrounding the Muthurajawela will be flooded if this mass scale land filling is continued. A top-ranking official of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources said that any construction or a human settlement which did not comply with the requirements of the Master Plan for Muthurajawela (MPM) was illegal. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is also expected to initiate legal action against those responsible. The officials at the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) also claim to be powerless to stop these kinds of violation. Manel Jayamanne, CEA Director General said they do not have powers to prevent or bring the culprits to book for illegal activities. However, the secretary to the politician in question, denied the allegations and said that it was 'just the development project proposal' for Katana seat. "Two modern towns aimed to develop tourism will be built with improved infrastructure. The main aim of the project is to distribute lands to the needy and the target is to build 20,000 houses", he said. Denying the allegations that the MP was distributing lands, he said: "We cannot take the responsibility for the encroachment. We have not distributed a single perch yet but called for applications only", he pointed out. He also said that they target over 40,000 applications and after a thorough assessment, 20,000 families will be selected for the housing scheme. He said the project proposals will be handed over to the Prime Minister soon. |
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