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Govt. to speed up forest demarcations
The Forest Department will act swiftly to demarcate forest boundaries in the north and east following the recent attempt to encroach on state land in Punani, Batticaloa.
Policemen removing the poles that the encroachers had putup
Affirming the move, Conservator-General of Forests Anura Sathurusinghe said unlike in other provinces forest lands in the north and east had not been properly demarcated due to the civil war, which ended in 2009.
The department’s move comes after a group of people from Batticaloa tried to move in on state land in Valaichchenai, Vakarai and Koralaipattu, illegally claiming ownership by putting up substantial barbed wire fences. The land lies beside the Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa main road.
More than 500 people arrived in the area and started to put up fences despite protests by local residents. The encroachers marked out plots in forest lands in Navaladi and Punani and claimed ownership of them.
Some residents also allege that unidentified people came in the night and cut down valuable timber and took it away by morning.
“My department had to get the help from the Valaichchenai police and the Special Task Force (STF) followed by the Magistrate Court orders to evacuate the encroachers, who had captured around 15km of state land in the district,” Mr. Sathurusinghe said.
A national plan already in action needs to be accelerated to avoid this kind of illegal activity. He said, adding, “There are shortcomings with funding and planning but it will be resolved soon”.
Batticaloa Government Agent P.S.M. Charles, who went into action to stop the encroachment, said she and the Batticaloa Divisional Forest Officer immediately took the matter to the attention of higher authorities.
“These people came out suddenly and claimed the ownership for the lands. Once we were informed by the Grama Sevaka and Pradeshiya Sabha officers we took up the issue with the police and the Forests Department and following a court order those fences were removed by the STF,” she said.
The land where the encroachment occurred lies beside the Polonnaruwa- Batticaloa main road
Conservator-General Sathurusinghe said there should be an effort to educate people about forest lands, particularly in former war-torn areas that lack clear demarcations.
“We hope to finalise the demarcation of the entire forest area in the two provinces with the help of the Survey Department, and it will be gazetted. Thereafter there would be no trespassing or encroachment in forest lands,” he said.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Eastern Provincial Councillor Rasiah Thurairatnam said after a visit to the area that many complaints had been lodged with the Forest Department and Vakarai police station through the Grama Sevaka but no action had followed at first.
“This was an ongoing activity for some time by some individuals who are backed by politicians. When there are politically-motivated people behind these moves it is really difficult to stop such illegal activities.
We also question whether law and order is effective in the province since there was a failure to take action at the inception,” he said.
Some of the encroachers claimed Deputy Minister of Rural Economic Affairs Ameer Ali had told them to take the land. A spokesman for the minister denied the claim.