The Hon. Sunil Rathnasiri
Hon. Sunil Rathnasiri thanked the Minister for using the President’s Fund to assist children affected by elephant attacks. He raised concerns that public and private institutions continue to operate within the Alahera-Girithale sanctuary despite its declaration in 2000, and questioned why the Wildlife Department is blocking the funded Digavela anicut, under 100 metres in length, when it would help water-scarce long-standing farmers at Pekkulama and the much larger Alahera Maha Ela project is proceeding.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I thank the Hon. Minister for directing the President’s Fund to support children affected by elephant attacks. My second supplementary: Alahera-Girithale sanctuary was declared on 2000.01.13, but police, courts, banks, an Ayurveda hospital and private institutions still function within it. Also, long-standing farmers at Pekkulama face water scarcity. Despite funds allocated by Irrigation for the Digavela anicut, the Department of Wildlife is obstructing. While the Alahera Maha Ela project runs across nearly 100 km, why is a less than 100-metre Digavela anicut not permitted to help desperate farmers?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 19 June 2025 ·No. 1751430648025512 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sunil Rathnasiri. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 19 June 2025. No. 1751430648025512. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/27447