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Environmentalists hope Sirisena will honour pledge
The lack of a minister for the environment in the new government has dismayed environmentalists even though they largely view the change in regime as being beneficial.
Just days before his election, President Maithripala Sirisena signed a public pact presented by the Environment Organisations’ Collective (EOC), and the grouping hopes the new leader will honour the terms of the pact, which includes a pledge to stop abuse of natural resources and ensure their protection.
The omission of an environmental minister at this week’s ministerial swearing-in ceremony puzzled many and raised doubts as to whether the new government is serious about tackling environmental issues.
Sources close to the government say Athuraliye Rathana Thero’s name emerged as a suitable candidate for the post but the Thera’s decision not to accept any ministerial posts had prevented the naming of another person for the portfolio in the time available.
The sources have assured the conservation lobby that a strong person would eventually be named environmental minister.
The environmental lawyer, Jagath Gunawardene, who was continuously critical on issues during the Rajapaksa government, said the most important thing was to establish the rule of law, and when this broader issue was resolved action on environmental matters would start falling into place.
He said illegal work that disrupts the environment should be investigated and those responsible should be held accountable. Many projects went ahead without proper Environmental Impact Assessments such as the development of a Port City in Colombo, and these projects should be reassessed by capable people, he said.
Hemantha Withanage of the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) stressed the need to bring together departments and institutes relating to environmental matters.
During the previous government, even the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and Department of Forest Conservation that had to be working hand in hand were split into two ministries, making co-ordination a problem. The DWC) was at one time assigned to the Ministry of Economic Development and for while operated without a director-general. Meanwhile, the Coast Conservation Department (CCD) is under the Ministry of Defence.
Sajeewa Chamikara of the Environmental Conservation Trust pointed out that the previous government oversaw unnecessary land-grabbing amounting to nearly 200,000 acres.
The baby elephant abduction racket has been another injustice that went on unabated. There were incidents where there was enough evidence to frame charges against culprits but no action had been taken.
Mr. Chamikara issued a press release recently saying even the Auditor-General’s report stated that at least 14 elephants had been captured from the wild. This week, the Department of Wildlife Conservation team raided a property and confiscated a baby elephant kept by a powerful figure in the previous government, Sajin Vass Gunawardene, but he produced a permit to get the elephant released.
With the complex political situation, some of those who stand accused by environmentalists of offences are now supporting the government, so vigilance was needed to make sure investigations were fair and unbiased.