WNPS sounds alarm on fears of building a new road at Yala

Archaeological survey a “feint”?

The Wild Life and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), established in 1894, last week sounded the alarm on speculated intrusion into the Yala National Park which it said may be “a feint” for a more sinister purpose – the construction of an illegal road to lay claim to the historic Akasa Chaitya site at Situlpahuwa.

This matter, having already been raised in Parliament, is now in the public domain. It has been denied by the Wild Life Minister.

The following is the text of the WNPS statement: “The Wildlife & Nature Protection Society (WNPS) has learned that the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) has given his permission for three officials of the Archaeological Department to conduct a survey around the iconic Akasa Chaitya (Elephant Rock) in the Yala National Park.

“While the WNPS has yet learn of the real purpose and scope of the survey, it is deeply concerned that, according to sources, unauthorized personnel have entered the Park without formal permission, accompanied by members of the armed forces, and paid visit to the survey site. It has been a recurring situation that in the last 10-12 years. WNPS is aware interested parties have an ambition to lay claim to the ancient Akasa Chaitya site, as a place of pilgrimage, and to build a road to it from Situlpahuwa.

“Should such a road be built, apart from it being in breach of the Laws of Sri Lanka, the Fauna & Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO), it would lead to the catastrophic division of one of the premier National Parks of Sri Lanka, famous throughout the world for its sightings of leopards.

“In addition, the large-scale habitat degradation such a road would cause, the inevitable displacement of wildlife, and the introduction to it of swarms of unsupervised visitors, would hardly lend to foreign visitors wishing to travel to it. The corresponding economic loss to the area would seriously impact the local and national economies, both already reeling as a result of the pandemic.

“As such, the WNPS fervently hopes that this is nothing more than an archaeological survey of an ancient site, and not a feint for more sinister purpose; the construction of an illegal road that would not only result in court proceedings, but also the condemnation of wildlife lovers of Sri Lanka, and of the world. Can Sri Lanka really afford the true ‘cost’ of such a road?”