The Hon. Kathiravelu Shanmugam Kugathasan

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, Trincomalee District is divided into 11 Divisional Secretariat Divisions, one of which is the Verugal DS Division. I wish to speak on an Adjournment Motion regarding the issues faced by the people living in this Division.

¶ 02 In Verugal DS Division, 16,156 persons belonging to 4,809 families live in 10 Grama Niladhari (GN) Divisions. The Department of Wildlife Conservation claims full ownership over seven GN Divisions and partial ownership over three GN Divisions. That is, the Department of Wildlife Conservation claims 78.78% of the total land area of Verugal DS Division, and the Forest Department claims 37.16%. Together, this totals 115.94%, revealing arbitrary encroachment into people’s lands.

¶ 03 The total land area of Verugal DS Division is 32,042 acres. Of this, the Wildlife Department claims 25,242 acres and the Forest Department claims 11,906 acres—5,106 acres more than the Division’s total area. People mockingly ask how these two Departments can claim 37,148 acres within a 32,042-acre Division, suggesting these officers deserve a Nobel Prize in Mathematics.

¶ 04 There are no surveyed maps for the areas claimed. Whenever people or government officials attempt any work anywhere, Forest Department officers block it, alleging ownership, even though the Survey Department’s maps do not mark any lands for the Wildlife Department.

¶ 05 Before issuing Gazette notifications claiming people’s lands as their own, the Wildlife and Forest Departments conducted no notices or field inspections, nor followed due process for land acquisition. Yet when lands are requested to be released for public needs through the DS Office, they say it cannot be released legally. What justice is this?

¶ 06 People have lived in Verugal DS Division long before the Wildlife Department’s gazetting. In the territories claimed by the Wildlife and Forest Departments, 4,778 families hold land documents. There are 18 schools with 3,300 students. There are 102 places of religious worship—Hindu, Buddhist and Christian.

¶ 07 Within the area claimed by the Wildlife Department are the Divisional Secretariat, 10 GN Offices, hospitals, post offices, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, banks, the Department of Animal Health, Samurdhi Service Centres, police, and other public institutions. There are both documented and undocumented pasture lands traditionally used by the people. There are 18 tanks used for paddy cultivation.

¶ 08 Today, development cannot proceed in the area claimed by the Wildlife Department. Not only the people but also the Divisional Secretary, the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman and heads of departments are unable to carry out development activities due to prohibitions imposed by the Wildlife Department. Anyone—public institutions or people—must obtain approval from the Wildlife Department to undertake any activity, and getting this approval is complex and slow, causing economic losses to the people.

¶ 09 Applications for long-term leases for development, land requests by public institutions, allocations for cremation and burial grounds, children’s parks, public playgrounds, etc., cannot be processed by the Divisional Secretary.

¶ 10 In Poonagar GN Division through Kallaripu village, using Mahaweli waters that flow wastefully into the sea, nearly 2,000 acres can be cultivated with two paddy seasons if a one-metre-wide, 1.5-metre-deep, two-kilometre-long cut-canal is rehabilitated. Rs. 10 million was allocated in 2024, but the Wildlife Department refuses approval. About half a kilometre of the canal was already rehabilitated before being halted.

¶ 11 While officials and people in Verugal cannot obtain approvals for activities, the Wildlife Department itself destroys the forest and constructs a seven-kilometre-long, six-metre-wide road. What logic is this?

¶ 12 The Wildlife Department has blocked traditional grazing at Angodai and Mavil Aru areas, declaring that only wild animals may graze there and domestic animals may not. In 2008, there were 600 cattle herders and 28,000 cattle in Verugal. Thousands of cattle have died from disease due to lack of fodder, leaving only 15,200 now. Who is responsible for this loss to herders, and how will cattle numbers be protected?

¶ 13 Borders of the Verugal DS Division lie within the areas claimed by the Forest and Wildlife Departments. As the Wildlife Department fails to clearly demarcate these borders, disputes arise with Muttur and Seruwila DS Divisions.

¶ 14 Does the Minister of Environment know these issues faced by the people of Verugal? If so, what solutions will be provided? Will the Minister withdraw the Gazette notifications under which the Wildlife Department claims lands in Verugal? Thank you.