The Hon. (Dr.) Dammika Patabendi - Minister of Environment

¶ 01 Madam Presiding Member, I thank Hon. Kugathasan for bringing this debate on issues faced by the people of Trincomalee. The Deputy Minister and Hon. Arun Hemachandra clarified several points; I will add further.

¶ 02 When an area is declared a sanctuary, it may contain not only lands under the Wildlife Department but also private lands and lands belonging to various government departments. The declaration does not alter ownership. However, the Wildlife Department bears responsibility for management. Therefore, any development or alteration within a sanctuary requires the Wildlife Department’s approval. This applies also to the Seruwila–Allai Sanctuary within the Verugal DS Division, gazetted on 09.10.1970. Since then it has functioned as a sanctuary containing private, state and departmental lands; approvals are required for developments or alterations.

¶ 03 We acknowledge issues have arisen, and that institutions such as 10 GN offices, a post office and the Water Supply Board function within the sanctuary—this is possible under the law. Our duty is to assess whether uses inconsistent with sanctuary purposes are occurring.

¶ 04 As the Deputy Minister explained, in war-affected areas land issues remain unresolved. Post-war, when the Forest and Wildlife Departments marked areas, they could not always conduct on-ground demarcations and instead used GPS coordinates. We accept there may have been errors. Therefore, under a past programme titled “Resolving Land Issues through Sustainable Forest Management,” lands identified for release from Forest/Wildlife gazette markings were listed. Yet problems persisted.

¶ 05 After our government assumed office, following consultations with you, we secured a Cabinet decision on 25.08.2025. A special committee was appointed on 15.10.2025, which met on 28.10.2025 and took necessary decisions. The committee brings together the Environment Ministry, and the Ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries, Lands and Highways, the Department of Archaeology, the Mahaweli Authority, and District Secretaries of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Issues you raised have been discussed there. We are now engaged in the solution process. In addition to the national committee, we have approved sub-committees at district level. Please present your cases and reasons at those forums.

¶ 06 With the committees’ decisions, we can resolve these problems. Our government provides space to resolve issues—not on Sinhala, Muslim or Tamil nationalist lines, nor against any religion. We want a country where all—Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim; Hindu, Christian, Islam, Buddhist—live together in unity. We stand ready to open avenues to resolve all such issues collectively.