• Govt. denies spending millions

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Namal Karunaratne has rejected claims that millions of rupees have been spent on materials for the proposed ‘animal survey,’ terming such allegations speculative.

“These allegations are based on estimations. They are merely guesses, where you take the cost of one paper as say Rs. 10 and calculate according to that,” he said.

In the preparation of this survey, Karunaratne said that a certain form had been distributed to each house through the postal service, which had required a certain amount of funds.

Once the form has been filled, it should be handed over to the relevant Grama Niladhari, following which the forms will be collected and sent to Colombo for review.

“Obviously, there will be a cost generated. Instead of complaining, people should lend their support or propose a manner in which to conduct this survey without any cost,” Karunaratne said.

He stated that the details regarding the expenditure would be released in the future.

Karunaratne added that it was not appropriate to criticise this effort, as the survey was being conducted solely to gather preliminary data in an area where no prior data was available.

In an initiative to tackle agricultural losses caused by wild animals and provide recommendations for managing the issue, the planned animal survey is set to take place on Saturday (15).

The survey has been limited to a rapid assessment of day-time animals such as monkeys, squirrels, and peacocks.

Officials are tasked with counting animals within a five-minute timeframe, in order to preserve a more accurate count during a smaller period so as to lower the possibility of animals disrupting the survey by moving.

Meanwhile, the National Farmers’ Union recently alleged that over Rs. 70 million had been allocated for the upcoming census of endangered animals.