Timber piracy continues unabated despite vigilance

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Illicit felling of timber in State forest reservations continues at an alarming rate despite efforts by officers of the Forest Department to clamp down on timber piracy. Several such cases have been detected by the police during the past few years.

A team of Special Task Forces (STF) from Galle led by Chief Inspector Perera on a search operation at Kottawa, Kohobavila-Kalupahana Kanda state reservation arrested four persons engaged in felling of Milla trees valued at several hundred thousand rupees without a permit. Meanwhile, STF officers also took into custody a man who had uprooted 110 tea plantations by clearing the forest reservation. The poachers were getting ready to smuggle 34 Milla logs valued at Rs. 150,241.98 when STF officers seized the logs and arrested the suspects.

Last year, police officers seized an abandoned tractor with 12 logs of expensive timber in the Palana Hewawela at Weligama. The timber poachers abandoned the tractor and fled into the jungle when they learnt the police were after them. The timber was valued more than Rs 400,000, police said.

In similar operation carried out by the Karuwalagasweva police a lorry transporting illicit timber worth Rs. 400,000 was seized at Rajavigama on same year. The illicit timber was from Thabbowa forest reservation, police said. In the same year Forest officers arrested two persons transporting illicit teak logs concealed inside gunny bags at Mahiyangana. The timber was valued at Rs. 300.000, was detected at a check point at the 49th mile post along the Padiyathalawa-Mahiyangana Road.