News
Wilpattu houses under wildlife fire
As the controversy over the construction of houses close to the Wilpattu National Park rages, moves are underway to evict squatters in the northern part of the Park, the Sunday Times learns.
These squatter families who have put up cadjan huts at the northern end of the Wilpattu National Park face legal action. Pix by S.R. Lambert and Jude Samantha
Wildlife Director General H.D. Ratnayake said legal action had been filed against 18 families that had built houses at the northern end of the park.
He added that legal action against the other families would be taken once the Wildlife Department received the survey reports of the land.
These families are said to have encroached on some 10 acres of the park’s northern area which comes under the Musali division of the Mannar district.
Mr. Ratnayake also said there were no other houses within the Wilpattu Park but he emphasized that no construction of houses could take place even in areas adjoining the park as they came under a forest reserve.
As the crisis over the Wilpattu National Park squatters is being solved through legal means, the row over the construction of a housing scheme with 300 units close to the northern end of the park aggravates with Minister Risahrd Bathiudeen defending the project while a 
Buddhist group vows to stop it.
Mr. Bathiudeen said the project known as the Jasim Housing Scheme was funded by a Qatari philanthropist and is being built not in a park or forest reserve area but in a village known as Marichchikkaddi, from where the Muslimpopulation was forced to leave in 1990 due to LTTE threats.
“Since their eviction, they have been living in Puttalam. When the war ended, they wanted to return to their village. I found a donor to fund the housing project. This project was approved by the Presidential Task Force and it is being built on a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report recommendation,” the minister explained.
He added that the Marichchikkaddi village was recaptured by the security forces but the villagers could not come back because the Navy was occupying some 700 acres in the area.
“Now that there is no war, these people can return to their village,” the minister said.
Yesterday, the Defence Ministry rejected Minister Bathiudeen’s claim that the Navy was occupying a 700 acre area, including the Muslim village.
The Jassim Housing Scheme near the Wilpattu National Park
Asked about the 48 squatter families inside the park, Mr. Bathiudeen said the Government had promised to provide them alternative land within two weeks.
Meanwhile, Musali’s Divisional Secretary S. Keethishwaran in a report said that according to survey plans, no part of the Wilpattu Park was being used for the Jasim Housing Scheme.
However, the Bodu Bala Sena vowed to intensify its campaign against what it called illegal squatters and illegal projects in the park area.
“This is an environmental issue as well because the housing scheme is close to the National Park. Already there are some squatters in the northern part of the park. This project is a threat as it will expand into the park area,” BBS secretary the Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera told the Sunday Times.
He said they had taken the matter up with the concerned authorities, but lamented that no action had been taken on the complaint.
“We visited the area and explained to squatters the gravity of occupying state land and requested them to move away,” Ven. Gnanasara Thera said.
However, reports said the visit created a tense situation and heated arguments broke out between the squatter families and BBS members.
BBS Secretary Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thera arguing with the squatter families