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Zoo workers seek President intervention to ‘reverse’ resignation

13 Sep 2021

  • Cites ‘personal’ loss to Prez’s policy vision
  • Writes to Prez, Wildlife Minister/Secy, Wildlife Protection State Minister
By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody Trade unions, attached to the National Zoological Gardens Department and representing its employees, have written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the wake of the resignation of the Department’s Director General (DG) Ishini Wickremesinghe, requesting that said resignation not be accepted and that she be reappointed to the post. The unions have opined in their letter that Wickremesinghe’s loss of leadership to the Department would be a personal loss to the President in terms of implementing the latter’s national policy framework titled “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour”.  The letter, sent last Thursday (9), has been copied to the Wildlife and Forest Conservation Minister C.B. Ratnayake, the Wildlife and Forest Conservation Ministry Secretary Somarathne Vidanapathirana, and the Wildlife Protection, Adoption of Safety Measures including the Construction of Electrical Fences and Trenches, and Reforestation and Forest Resource Development State Minister Wimalaweera Dissanayake. The letter has been signed by the Sri Lanka Podujana National Zoological Gardens Department Employees/Workers Association (Dehiwala) Chairman Krishantha Christopals. The other union that is involved in supporting this action is the National Zoological Gardens Active Employees/Workers Association. The unions claim in the letter that Wickremesinghe’s resignation, which is reportedly due to “personal reasons” as per the resignation letter sent by Wickremesinghe to State Minister Dissanayake, was in actuality not so. One reason cited by the unions as being the reason for Wickremesinghe’s departure is the controversial Cabinet-approved extraordinary gazette notification that was recently issued by State Minister Dissanayake regarding the regulation, including registration, of “tamed” elephants, and to place elephants in the charge and protection of the National Zoological Gardens Department and the Wildlife Conservation Department under the purview of the Buddhasasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs Ministry. Said extraordinary gazette, released on 19 August, holds that a licence card will be issued using modern technology to all those who are currently in possession of elephants, and has therefore called on all such persons who possess an elephant on the basis of a licence, a “sannasa (grant)”, other legal documents, or by succession, to register their elephants under these new regulations, for purposes of employing the animals for cultural, religious, tourism, and other related economic activities, subject to certain restrictions on the nature of the activity, the condition of the elephant, and its treatment. The other reason cited by the unions for Wickremesinghe’s resignation was Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on 6 September ordering 14 elephants under the charge of the National Zoological Gardens Department to be released, as per the directive given by the Court to the National Zoological Gardens Department, to their so-called original owners for registration under the aforementioned extraordinary gazette, which empowers the Wildlife Conservation Department’s Director General to register elephants and issue licences in respect of tamed elephants. The so-called owners were those individuals who had possession of the elephants prior to the litigation, after having allegedly captured the pachyderms, including elephant calves, from the wild. The elephants were in the custody of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and the Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home as Court proceedings in connection with litigation over incidents of elephant trafficking were ongoing. Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe shared her disappointment on the release of the 14 elephants on social media stating that the elephant named “Sri Devi” was her “favourite” amongst all the elephants. “I was helpless in protecting her (Sri Devi) and the other elephants from being forcibly taken from Pinnawala. What cruelty it is to take away their freedom for personal interest,” she said. According to the unions, Wickremesinghe is yet to receive receipt of the acceptance of her resignation, and when The Morning inquired as to the status with regard to Wickremesinghe’s resignation, the Wildlife and Forest Conservation Ministry Media Secretary Nimal Yatiwella suggested that we speak to Ministry Secretary Vidanapathirana. However, the latter was unavailable for immediate comment despite multiple attempts. Wildlife Conservation Department Director General Chandana Sooriyabandara was also not available for comment with regard to whether the Department would, as per the powers vested in it through the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance as amended, seek to legally challenge the release of the elephants. State Minister Dissanayake was also unavailable for comment. However, Wickremesinghe has, as acknowledged by Dissanayake earlier, voiced her opposition to the release of these elephants in this manner. Speaking to The Morning last Friday (10), Christopals also added that whilst they were awaiting a response to their letter, they had informed all Departmental employees and members of the two unions, including those employed at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, the Pinnawala Open Zoo, the Dehiwala Zoo, and the Ridiyagama Safari Park, to participate in two days of discussions over the matter in order to decide the future course of action regarding the same, including of possible legal action. The unions informed that they intend to have the discussions within the course of this week. “Elephants are a public resource. Hence, it is not suitable to subject them to private agendas. The wildlife resource is a source of foreign exchange. We must protect it without allowing for its destruction. We are not opposed to elephants being used for activities of temples and devalayas (shrines) and related cultural matters such as peraheras (processions) which we don’t consider to be acts of animal cruelty. However, we, as both department employees and unionists, oppose all else, including what is taking place at present, especially when considering the fact that the way we, as the department, look after these animals and how a private individual would treat them as per their whims and fancies, differs,” Christopals added. Meanwhile, environmentalists, including environmental lawyers and animal rights activists, have opposed said release of elephants, condemning the act as being akin to returning stolen property to thieves, or in this instance, the so-called original owners of the elephants, who were allegedly snatched from the wild and subsequently trafficked and sold in the first place. According to them, the extraordinary gazette would pave the way for the capture of wild elephants by aiding and abetting in the process through its regulatory provisions, in turn leading to the increased mistreatment and maltreatment of captive elephants in the course of their “taming” and during life thereafter. It would also assist in the use of elephants for commercial purposes, such as in the tourism industry and trade. They have therefore urged the Wildlife Conservation Department and the Attorney General’s Department to take action to challenge the said Court order which they deem both illegal and unlawful. Meanwhile, the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), in a letter of demand, has urged the Attorney General (AG) to take immediate action to rectify the injustice caused by releasing 15 captive elephants that were kept under the custody of the Department of National Zoological Gardens. The CEJ maintained that any advice provided by the AG’s Department for the release of 15 elephants is contrary to the laws and an erosion of the Rule of Law in the country. These environmental groups are also mulling the possibility of legally challenging said court order by way of a writ petition in the Court of Appeal or a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court. The ongoing legal proceedings, which are Magisterial inquiries concerning the illegal possession of elephants sans valid licenses, pertain to such incidents of trafficking and sale that have allegedly taken place mainly during the 2010-2015 period when the incumbent Buddhasasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs Minister and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was President. Since 2015, 47 of these elephants, including calves, were taken from their so-called owners and placed under court-ordered custody with the Wildlife Conservation Department and the National Zoological Gardens Department. It is 14 of these elephants that have now been, as per the Court order on 6 September, returned to the so-called original owners.  


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