Ask Minister Dayashritha to stop cutting Trees in the plantations

July 9, 13, Colombo. As the civil society groups engaging in protection of the environment in Sri Lanka, we are shocked to see the news that the State Resources and Enterprise Development Ministry decided to chop down and sellnearly 70,000 trees on Government-owned plantations, to pay the unpaid EFP and ETF dues. These trees are mostly located in the stream catchments and they serve for controlling soil erosion and acting as the habitats for the remaining wild animals”. Removal of old trees may be necessary, however they should be done without damaging to the nature. Plantation sector is responsible for most of the tree felling in Sri Lanka during the British colonial period. Unless the remaining forests are saved, soil in the hill country will be totally damaged and further earth slides are highly possible in the future. We believe that these trees should not be cut down for any reason. We have seen that some people have suggested doing an EIA for this activity. However, we have seentotal violation of the EIA procedure in Sri Lanka in the past few years and we don’t not expect any unbiased decision even if the EIAs are conducted. We stress that these trees are not responsible for non-payment of the EPF and ETF and it is fundamentally wrong to cut trees in the plantations to pay such dues. Therefore, we demand Mr. Dayashritha Tissera, Minister of State Resources and Enterprise Development to immediately reconsider this decision and find other ways to pay the debt of the plantations rather than getting revenge from the remaining trees in the estates for the management failures. We also demand the Central Environmental Authority to intervene and stop such practices before the country is leading to the devastations such as what happen in India during the last month. We appeal to His Excellency the President to intervene in this issue and stop unwise acts of these authorities and politicians and stop the nation facing serious environmental consequence in the near future. Joint Statement which prepared by Hemantha Withanage.