‘Govt. destroying 500,000 hectares of forests’ – Harsha De Silva

SJB Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha De Silva charged that the government has begun destroying 500,000 hectares of forests when the focus is on Covid-19. The government has now placed 500,000 hectares of valuable forests in the country under the control of Government Agents and Divisional Secretaries for agricultural purposes.

These forests are known as remnant forests, but they range from tens of thousands of acres of rich biodiversity forests to small ecosystems.

These include rivers, canals, streams, reserves as well as historical and archeological sites, he said.

Allowing such massive deforestation to take place with state sponsorship, when there are enough cultivable lands in the country would be the greatest devastation to our environment in recent history, he warned.

Although the government says that these forest lands will be used to give lands to farmers, this will never happen, and these lands will be in the hands of large-scale businessmen in the future, the MP asserted.

“The government will inevitably hand over other forests also to big time entrepreneurs if we don’t oppose this massive environmental destruction”, he continued.

“I am well aware of the importance of business development and strongly condemn the foolish act of formulating a strategy for such environmental damage. These remnant forests, which have been growing for nearly 50 years, are rich in biodiversity, and even black leopards that have recently died, have lived in these forests,” he said.

“A country cannot be developed by the construction of concrete buildings and highways alone and the preservation of a healthy and precious ecosystem is essential for balanced development. Let us rally against this great environmental catastrophe, regardless of party affiliation, the parliamentarian stressed.