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Government agencies acting on complaints of flooding in the Akurana town went on to destroy trees on the Pinga Oya bank in the Katugastota area instead of finding a solution to clear garbage and plastic which was causing the flooding.

Environmentalists said the Mahaweli Authority and officials from the Disaster Management Centre’s Kandy office who were opting for an easy solution without clearing the garbage, had started to cut down the trees at the bank and broadened the oya.

According to the environmentalists, the move to broaden the oya by using backhoes was carried out from Wednesday and continued throughout the day and night of Thursday. They halted their operation on Friday. Though the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) had approved the move, it had been done without carrying out an environmental damage assessment or feasibility report. The environmental groups said when such a move is carried out in a water body,  an environmental damage assessment report is essential.

The authorities having the banks of Pinga Oya cleared using backhoes

The area which was considered as an urban wetland, consisted of rover site forests and acted to retain flood water. The floods were caused as the garbage blocked the oya, and the garbage and plastic needed to be removed instead of damaging the wetland by cutting the trees.

However the officials who carried out the operation claimed they broadened the oya as a solution for the floods, while the environmentalists countered that the Mahaweli Authority had breached the environmental regulations conducted by it.

The environmentalists said through this move the officials are misusing State funds, yet no action had been taken despite the responsible authorities having been informed of the incident.

“Kudu Roshan,” “Kudu Asanka” and “Kudu Sriyani”, cases of small time gangsters blowing up their names

The “Yukthiya” island-wide operation aimed mainly at cracking down on drug trafficking is now entering its third week. The Police claim the operation is a success, and they have been able to net a number of wanted drug traffickers and so-called “underworld figures” during these operations.

Most of these suspects are known more by their aliases and the people have been bombarded over the past two weeks with many colourful aliases used by alleged gangsters and drug traffickers who have been arrested during the operation. A large number of drug traffickers have the word “Kudu” attached to their aliases. A virtual giveaway to their trade. They include: “Kudu Roshan,” “Kudu Asanka” and “Kudu Sriyani.” Other alleged criminals who have either been arrested or come to the attention of Police during these operations include those known by aliases such as “Ravul Kumara,” “Ladiya,” “Sanda,” “Maama,” “Podi Thaththa,” “Baba,” “Amanaya,” “Suda,” “Kota” and “Uduwa.”

Meanwhile “Manna Roshan,” whose alias genuinely evoked some concern owing to his reputation of using a long “Manna” knife to commit crimes, met a gruesome end this week when he was killed in a hail of gunfire after being ambushed–allegedly by a rival gang. 

One retired top cop whose job it was to track down and arrest such criminals blamed the media, elements of the Police and politicians for creating a mystique around such criminal elements. He said the term “underworld” should not be used to describe what are organised criminal gangs.

“These are not the Mafia, the Yakuza or the South American drug cartels. Our guys have nowhere near that level of organisation, resources or skills. They cultivate this image of being kingpins but these are just several organised gangs and small-timers,” he said.

Minister alleges that Jaffna VIP dodged narcotics search operation

The ongoing Police crackdown on underworld operations and drug mafia across the country has turned out to be something that comes up in most of the social gatherings these days as Sri Lankans prepare to welcome a New Year.

Even at the Jaffna District Coordination Committee meeting which was held on Thursday, the topic came up focusing on Police operations in the region which saw hundreds of individuals being picked up by Police for possessing narcotics, drinking and driving and other offences.

However, most of them were released on Police bail within twenty-four hours and only a few were remanded. In this backdrop, Fisheries Minister Douglas Devanada who co-chaired the meeting, raised clarification from senior Police officers, about an incident where an influential individual in Jaffna with links to higher-ups in the government ranks dodged the search at his residence in Jaffna despite being arrested in Colombo for smuggling narcotics from Colombo to Jaffna recently.

Minister Devananda asked the senior Police officers why Police officers were not allowed to carry out search operations at the Jaffna residence of that particular individual and why they were recalled subsequently.

When the Jaffna Police Superintendent responded that there was no such incident, the Minister shot back that he could have been unaware but his colleague–the HQI who was seated next to him–might be in the know.

The HQI responded that Police officers were indeed allowed to search the house. Then the Minister asked that search was allowed only for two hours after they initially visited the house and in the meantime “some of the things were taken outside.”

When some individuals representing civil society requested to reveal the identity, the Minister declined to do so by merely saying “If I do, that would be politicised.”

SLPP MPs say seized narcotics should be destroyed in public

Some Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MPs, including several State ministers, were having a discussion at Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa’s Colombo residence at Malalasekera Mawatha in Colombo 7 this week, when the talk inevitably turned to the ‘Yukthiya’ island-wide anti-narcotics Police operation.

Most of those present were full of praise for Public Security Minister Tiran Alles for giving direction to the operation. They also spoke of the importance of destroying in public the narcotics seized during such operations.

Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa said many victims of the drug epidemic were youth. He said a majority of those involved in the ‘Aragalaya’ that drove his uncle President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from power were on drugs, raising eyebrows among those present.

“You have to be on drugs to have driven out a President under whom the Value Added Tax (VAT) was at 8% and usher in an age when the VAT is now 18%,” said the MP, prompting laughter from those present.

Death of Indian film star known as “Black M.G.R”: Pocket mourning meetings in North and East

As South Indian film star turned politician Vijayakanth was laid to rest with full State honours on Friday in Chennai, pocket memorial gatherings were conducted in many parts of the Northern and Eastern provinces by his fans in Sri Lanka.

The film personality was known as “Black M.G.R” equating him with another film star turned successful politician–M.G. Ramachandran–for his generosity and his charity work in the State, particularly for Tamil refugees who fled to India during the war period.

Vijayakanth, who had been ill in recent years, passed away on Thursday after battling pneumonia. For three decades, he was a successful film star in the South Indian film industry. Later, he founded a political party in 2005 and emerged as the Opposition Leader at the Tamil Nadu State Assembly.

Banners and notices were distributed by his fans and locals at the pocket mourning meetings in rural areas of Sri Lanka’s North and East to remember him and his service during the difficult times.

Speaking at one event in Jaffna near the statue of M.G.R., one individual recalled how Vijayakanth’s office was always open and supportive of refugees going from Sri Lanka. He said his office fed thousands
of individuals every day when they came from far away places to see him.