The Hon. Thurairasa Ravikaran

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member. I welcome the Adjournment Motion brought by Hon. S. Kugathasan regarding land grabs by the Wildlife Department in Verugal, Trincomalee. Though the Hon. Deputy Minister has spoken, in Vanni District we are suffering severely due to this Department.

¶ 02 Verugal has 10 GN Divisions with a total of 32,041.66 acres. The Wildlife Department claims 25,242.13 acres through Gazette 424/24 of 24.10.1986 and the Allai Sanctuary Gazette of 09.10.1970. The Forest Department claims 13,906 acres. Together, that is 39,148 acres—while Verugal has only 32,041.66 acres. These Departments claim 7,106 acres beyond the total area—based on Google maps and arbitrary assertions. Is this not absurd? Were these officials competent? Though this happened earlier, we must highlight it.

¶ 03 There are 4,809 families and 16,156 people, with schools, Hindu temples, churches, GN offices, hospitals, post offices, and playgrounds—all within areas claimed by these two Departments.

¶ 04 Please give me one more minute. In Mullaitivu, the Wildlife Department has undertaken large-scale land acquisition under designations such as Vavunikulam Sanctuary, Nandikadal Nature Reserve, Nayaru Nature Reserve and Kokkilai Sanctuary, and has sought to declare the Silavathurai marine area as a Marine Protected Area. It has also declared Chundikulam National Park and filed 131 cases against farmers of Kariyalvayal and Chundikulam. Hon. Deputy Minister, we believe you do not intend to grab lands; please ensure your government releases lands taken from people in the North and East. Thank you.