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A tense situation arose during the Mannar District Development Committee meeting held this week when several Tamils questioned the basis upon which the government of Sri Lanka had de-gazetted the Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve, allowing private companies to set up an aquaculture industrial farm.
Last month, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi issued an extraordinary gazette de-gazetting a section of the Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve to set up an aquaculture industrial farm. The gazette, which is only available in Sinhala, cites that this section of land originally belonging to the Nature Reserve will no longer be considered part of the reserve.
The appendix of the gazette has not been made public despite being issued in May, this year. The extent of the land and other details have been withheld.
The gazette can be found here.
According to media reports, the aquaculture industrial park will be used for the farming of various species including marine finfish, crabs, and exotic species of shrimp in a Public Private Partnership (3P) and is expected to raise US$ 1.3 billion for the Government.
Parliamentarian and member of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Movement (TELO) Selvam Adaikalanathan told the members present at the meeting that permission should not be granted for such an initiative which would endanger the nature reserve.
Representatives of fisherfolk also raised their concerns over the 400 acres of the nature reserve being promised to private companies. They added that if 400 acres could be released so easily, the rest of the 1400 acres are in danger of such a land grab.
At the same time, the Manthai West Division Secretary said that they were not given instructions regarding the release of land. He added that the government intended to take 1000 acres, but it was brought down to 400 acres according to the reports.
Others who spoke up at the meeting queried why this gazette was not made available in English or Tamil and the appendix relating to the land extent was ostensibly missing. He also asked if the officials from the Manner Forest Department were aware of the gazette.
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Given the suspicious circumstances around the release of the land belonging to the nature reserve, they added that such lands should not be given freely to private or foreign companies.
Annalingam Annarasa, Northern Provincial Coordinator of All Sri Lanka Fishermen's Union told the committee that this was a covert scheme to sell lands belonging to Tamils to foreign companies. He added that several communities that live in the surrounding area depend on fishing in the lagoon as their only means of livelihood.
Issuing a statement, the Colombo-based Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) said that Sri Lanka has once again shown that the actions of the state don’t align with preaching following its move to de-gazette part of Sri Lanka’s best blue carbon protected area amid climate pledges.
WNPS said,
“The Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve is an area in which all three blue carbon ecosystems exist; storing vast amounts of carbon that help mitigate the impact of climate change. This vital ecosystem supports the lives of countless species, empowers livelihoods, and protects our coast from destruction. “If even a single area within or around the Reserve is utilized for aquaculture, the impacts on our environment and the surrounding communities would be devastating and far-reaching–extending beyond what we could even imagine. We urge every possible individual, entity, and interested party to speak up to safeguard this already fragile ecosystem.”
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