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Nochchiyagama DS accused of aiding Wilpattu land-grab 

11 Oct 2022

BY Pamodi Waravita Allegations have been levelled against Nochchiyagama Divisional Secretary (DS) Asanga Rathnayake for aiding in a land-grabbing scheme in the buffer zone of the Wilpattu National Park, bordering Nochchiyagama.  “The law states that although the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) does not own the buffer zone, any development activity that takes place in the buffer zone needs recommendation and approval from the said department. Rathnayake’s spouse is from a village called Hunuwilagama, which borders the buffer zone from the Nochchiyagama side. He has a relative from the said village who is involved in land sales. He is attempting to issue licences to develop lands in the buffer zone without obtaining prior approval from the department,” official sources claimed, speaking to The Morning this week.  A group of villagers had recently staged a protest demanding that lands in the buffer zone be released for development purposes, and that they be allowed to fish in some of the tanks inside the Wilpattu National Park, located close to their village. “The DWC allows villagers to use the tanks for their personal purposes, but does not allow fishing due to commercial exploitation. These protests are aided by Rathnayake to achieve his own ends,” official sources further claimed.  Meanwhile, Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka Convenor Jayantha Wijesinghe, speaking to The Morning yesterday (6), claimed that MP Duminda Dissanayake has been involved in talks with the said Divisional Secretariat and other local leaders to further such plans.  “The Divisional Secretariat wants to issue licences to individuals, but these will eventually be given over to large-scale development projects like hotels. That is the common way to push projects through without proper approval. This could even lead to around 1, 000 acres being seized from the protected areas,” he alleged.  However, Dissanayake told The Morning that the allegations against him are false.  “The villagers are not asking for new lands. It is an ancestral village. When the electric fence was put up, it was put up outside of the border of Wilpattu so that the tanks would be located inside the national park for the animals. Then, they marked another buffer zone outside the fence, which now prevents anyone from even digging a well within the buffer zone without permission from the DWC. This means that ancestral owners of lands are not allowed to even dig a well.  “All we are asking for is that they show us the proper border of the Wilpattu National Park. That is all we are asking, but they have started levelling allegations against me. I invited DWC officials to also come for a discussion with the villagers and to show us the border so that the villagers can live freely on their ancestral lands,” said Dissanayake.  When contacted by The Morning, Rathnayake declined to comment over the phone, adding that the allegations levelled against him on social media are false.


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