The Hon. Kins Nelson

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, I move that, at the Committee Stage debate of the Appropriation Bill 2025 on Monday, 17.03.2025, the recurrent and capital expenditure under each Programme of Heads 101, 201 to 209 and 160, 283, 284, 291, 294 and 322 relating to the Ministries and their Departments and Institutions taken up today be reduced by Rs. 10 each, in keeping with tradition.

¶ 02 Hon. Chairman, I am pleased to join this Committee Stage debate regarding the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Environment. Focusing on Environment, the major challenge is the human-elephant conflict. Department of Wildlife Conservation officers are at the forefront of responding, often with minimal facilities and even facing direct attacks. A key issue is inadequate cadre: there are 982 vacancies across national parks and related institutions under the Ministry; approved cadre is 2,820 while only 1,892 are in position.

¶ 03 On electric fences, the President noted in the Budget that 5,611 km exist and Rs. 200 million is allocated to repair 1,456 km. Repairs alone are insufficient: many fences are non-functional—insufficient power, dead batteries, broken wires, decayed posts. To minimize the conflict, existing fences must be repaired and new fences added where agricultural lands have been newly allocated adjacent to wildlife ranges. Yet there is no provision for even one new kilometre of fence. In my Polonnaruwa District alone, fences stretch about 1,100 km, while only 1,456 km countrywide are slated for repair. Areas like Dimbulagala, Selikanda, Medirigiriya, Pamburana and Palliyagodella face daily incursions. Just this morning, an elephant attack claimed a life in Medirigiriya. The allocation is inadequate and no new fencing is planned.

¶ 04 From July 2023 to 31 December 2024 there were 876 elephant deaths and 339 human deaths; around 7,000 instances of property damage occurred. From 1 January to 14 March 2025 alone, 93 elephant deaths, 35 human deaths and 756 property damages were recorded; in the first one and a half months, 59 elephant deaths occurred. This is not new; we have repeatedly raised it here without effective solutions. I personally met the Minister to offer support for a structured programme.

¶ 05 Priority one is strengthening human resources. Guard huts along fences are critical. In Polonnaruwa we need 136 huts but only 64 exist, most without electricity or drinking water. Huts need power for night monitoring; with adequate staffing, breaches can be quickly repaired.

¶ 06 Our national parks are major economic assets. Yala National Park alone earned Rs. 2.7 billion in 2024; daily revenues now often exceed Rs. 10 million. Yet the park office reportedly gets only Rs. 100,000 a month for operations—grossly insufficient to maintain nine bungalows, roads and staff needs. Yala covers 97,880 hectares, divided into Blocks 1 to 6. Block 1 has 14,000 hectares with 550 registered jeeps and 951 registered drivers. Severe congestion occurs at the 6.30 a.m. entry. To ease this, open additional capacity by utilizing Blocks 3 and 6 with more entry points. Currently only two gates—Palatupana and Katagamuwa—operate, and almost all enter via Palatupana from Tissamaharama, causing bottlenecks. Domestic tourists wait hours and often turn back.

¶ 07 I propose at least two more gates, e.g., via Galgamuwa on the Buttala road to access Block 3, and ensure adequate numbers of guides at all gates (Katagamuwa presently has only three). Block 2, requiring special permission and at least two jeeps for safety, has become a haven for poachers as few visits occur—this must be rectified with better presence and monitoring.

¶ 08 Yala’s historic bungalows, including the seaside “Buttawa” bungalow conceived under the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, are now derelict—collapsed roofs and ruined sanitation. Outside-hotel rooms fetch over Rs. 100,000 per night; yet locals cannot access affordable in-park accommodation. We should rehabilitate park bungalows to a good standard and develop premium campsites with luxury tents, tapping high-spend tourists as seen in African parks. Properly priced, this brings significant revenue to the State.

¶ 09 Minneriya National Park—South Asia’s highest elephant density—has only five guides, while 400–500 jeeps operate; some enter without guides. In 2024 it earned about Rs. 300 million, yet visitor facilities are virtually absent—no proper rest areas or functioning toilets; the sole bungalow has been unused for years. With more guides (at least thirty) and basic facilities, revenue can increase.

¶ 10 Kaudulla National Park is similarly beautiful and underutilized due to comparable deficiencies. We must market all our parks, not only Wilpattu or Yala. The Department can produce brochures and maps, distribute at the airport, and through our missions overseas. End every park visit through a souvenir shop offering maps and wildlife photo merchandise to generate ancillary income.

¶ 11 Angammedilla National Park in Polonnaruwa—through which waters flow to Parakrama Samudraya—is stunning but lacks internal roads beyond an entrance and office. Building access tracks would add great value. Currently, tourists scarcely stay overnight in Polonnaruwa; with improved parks and facilities, we can change that.