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

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, I thank Hon. Sumanthiran for bringing this Motion as the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th Session begins in September. Protecting human rights is a core objective of the NPP Government. Regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or region, we work to ensure fundamental human rights. To secure rights sustainably in a country that faced bankruptcy, we prioritized stabilizing the economy — and we have.

¶ 02 We also redirected development to long-neglected regions, allocating priority resources — a new approach linked to human rights. A healthy environment is integral to human rights. Nationally and globally, we are bound to improve environmental conditions. We are committed to increasing forest cover to 32% by 2030. Through our “Vanaspathi” programme, we are declaring sensitive areas — watersheds, mountain ridges, habitats critical for biodiversity — as reserves across all provinces, ensuring balanced development.

¶ 03 After the war, in demarcating reserves in the North and East, prior governments used GPS coordinate methods that led to significant errors, inadvertently including private lands and even government buildings. The Environment Ministry has identified such lands to be released back for proper use. We have already identified specific areas for release: about 19,413 hectares in Mullaitivu, over 12,167 hectares in Mannar, and over 9,123 hectares in Vavuniya — over 100,000 acres identified so far, subject to further verification. We will submit a Cabinet paper to appoint a special committee chaired by our Secretary, with Agriculture, Lands and Irrigation, Wildlife and Forest Departments, and District Secretaries in the North and East, to review and recommend releases and resolve land issues.

¶ 04 We recognize issues with officials in managing forest and wildlife reserves in all regions; we will address and resolve them. On basic needs, we will secure drinking water in Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna. We are advancing the Pali Aru water scheme and will release required reserve lands to provide water for Kilinochchi, Mannar and Jaffna districts.

¶ 05 We also plan to present soon a bill to recognize and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples. As a new Government, transforming political culture and economic policy, we are implementing an accelerated programme to ensure fundamental rights for all, without ethnic, gender, cultural or regional discrimination. Thank you.