Rape of Aruwakkalu

Monday 7th September, 2020

More than 200 acres of residual forest have been destroyed in Kuratiyamohotta, Aruwakkalu over the weekend. Valuable trees have been felled and removed, and the shrub has been burnt. The scorched land belongs to the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation; it has been leased out for 50 years. What we are witnessing are the ill-effects of the notorious Tawakkal deal, struck under the Chandrika Kumartunga government amidst protests. Tawakkal company, which had no experience in manufacturing cement, had the Puttalam cement factory and the land belonging to it on a long lease; Holcim got them from Tawakkal. Now, Siam City Cement (Insee) controls the factory, and the land encompassing more than 5,000 acres, where limestone is quarried. The lessee must be made to explain why it failed to protect the land.

Someone responsible for grabbing a section of the Cement Corporation land in Aruwakkalu was taken into custody yesterday. Three brokers and a potential buyer were also arrested. They would have gone scot free but for the timely intervention of the Cement Corporation officials, who rushed to Aruwakkalu.

However, those who destroyed the forest land and attempted to grab it are still at large. A backhoe used for destroying the forest vanished despite the police presence in the area, according to our sources. Nobody would have been able to remove that vehicle without the backing of a person with political connections.

The yahapalana politicians and their henchmen destroyed forests and engaged in illegal sand mining, etc., for five years. They amassed a great deal of ill-gotten wealth at the expense of the environment and the public. Now, the racketeers within the SLPP’s ranks have crawled out of the woodwork. They do not have to fear anyone, not even the police, because their government has a two-thirds majority! They are obviously making up for lost time. They must be covering their tracks in Aruwakkalu.

The land racket in Aruwakkalu comes under the Offences against Public Property Act, and all those responsible for the crime must be arrested and prosecuted without further delay. It is a non-bailable offence.

The incumbent government claims to be able to protect the people against terrorists. It has also promised one law for the entire country. So, having those who masterminded the abortive land grab in Aruwakkalu arrested should be child’s play for these heroes.

One of the first few things the Rajapaksa government did after last year’s regime change was to allow what it called residual forests to be used for ‘other purposes’. It said ‘residual forests’ had been brought under the purview of Divisional Secretariats for the benefit of the peasants engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture. Environmentalists and the media protested against its decision. We pointed out in this space that government backers would destroy forests on some pretext or the other.

It was only the other day that the brother of an SLPP politician cleared a mangrove forest to build a prawn farm. He has got away with his crime to all intents and purposes. No sooner had the yahapalana government been toppled than an SLPP politician tried to cut down a mangrove forest to build a playground. When an intrepid female forest officer stood up to him, pointing out that at the rate mangroves were being destroyed, people would be left without oxygen before long, the government MP had the chutzpah to ask her whether one could ‘eat’ oxygen. This is the calibre of the politicians running the country!

The government must ensure that the mastermind of the rape of the Aruwakkalu forest land is brought to justice without further delay. Let no lame excuses be trotted out.