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Access road through Rumassala | Following due process?

04 Oct 2020

  • 40-foot access reduced to 25 feet
  • Road widening by Habaraduwa DS
By Sarah Hannan It was just last year that the work in progress Araliya Unawatuna Beach Hotel (AUBH) caught our attention, when environmentalists raised concerns on whether they had obtained proper environmental impact assessments (EIAs) to continue with the construction of the hotel. The Sunday Morning in July 2019 wrote about the whole controversy that surrounded the construction in an article titled “Controversy over Unawatuna”, in which it was mentioned that when asked, the Department of Coast Conservation and Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) officials noted that the project had obtained the necessary clearances before they broke ground. Once again, the AUBH has become a project that is heavily discussed amongst environmentalists, as the hotel is now looking to build an access road to the site. “Last year, the AUBH management was looking to widen the road that leads to Jungle Beach, so that their guests could drive through to the hotel. Many residents from the area protested and the AUBH management gave up the idea to widen the road,” Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) Executive Director Hemantha Withanage told The Sunday Morning. [caption id="attachment_99818" align="alignleft" width="300"] Araliya Group Chairman Dudley Sirisena during a visit to the Araliya Unawatuna Bach Hotel in September 2020[/caption] Having to abandon the original road that the AUBH had in mind, there is speculation that hotel owner Dudley Sirisena is attempting to gain road access through the Rumassala area. Withanage pointed out that if the access road gets approved, there will be considerable destruction to the ecosystem of the peripheral borders of the Rumassala Sanctuary. During a development committee meeting that was held in Unawatuna recently, Dudley Sirisena had participated and was seen explaining to the members how he was going to gain road access to his almost complete hotel. “The original survey plan for the area has a 40-foot access road. However, when I drove down that road, I observed that there are settlements. If I am to request the Habaraduwa Divisional Secretariat (DS) to widen the road as per the plan, many of the houses that are built on either side of this road will lose a considerable portion of their real estate,” Sirisena had explained. Therefore, Sirisena had noted that he is going to ask them to allow a 25-foot-wide road to be constructed, which would allow two vehicles to pass. Meanwhile, The Sunday Morning contacted the project office that is overseeing the AUBH construction to clarify who was going to construct the road and whether they were in fact cutting a road through the Rumassala Sanctuary as speculated by environmentalists. Responding to our query, an official from the project office noted: “Contrary to the claims made by environmentalists, the road that provides access to the hotel will still be through the village. We are not privately funding the construction of this road, but will wait until the Habaraduwa DS office develops the road. Considering the population density in the adjacent village, our management has requested the Habaraduwa DS office to only widen it up to 25 feet.” Araliya Group of Companies Chairman Dudley Sirisena, in a recent social media post, noted that the AUBH would be his final project before he retires from his busy business life: “This is the last project I will complete before retiring from a very busy business life, and I am pleased to announce that it will soon be open to thousands of families in the area. “The 300-room star-class hotel also generates thousands of direct and indirect jobs, and has also launched a programme to develop public spaces in the area, using my personal wealth. In that sense, this whole project will be a source of income generation for the Unawatuna area. “That is why I consider it a privilege to be able to invest the last rupee I’ve earned as a local entrepreneur in this land and to be able to devise a programme that will distribute its benefits among the people of the country. “So, as a local entrepreneur who started from scratch, I sincerely hope that it will help you look positively at your journey so far and make your life a success.” (Photos courtesy: Dudley Sirisena social media page)  


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