Colombo’s wildlife department appropriates lands in Paddippazhai for Sinhalicisation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 December 2013, 12:40 GMT]
Colombo government’s Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), deploying Sinhala settlers from Ampaa’rai district and paramilitary known as Home Guards, has put up a fence covering 800 acres of Tamil villages of Batticaloa district. The land appropriation is taking place under the guise of constructing a fence to prevent wild elephants from entering Batticaloa district from the jungles of Ampaa’rai district, according to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) councillor of the Eastern Provincial Council.

The occupying Sri Lanka Army also backs the fencing project.

On receipt of information Mr. Thurairatnam went to the site where Sinhalese from Ampaa’rai district are engaged in constructing fence to ‘prevent’ wild elephants from entering Batticaloa district.

Mr.Thurairatnam said about eight hundred acres of lands owned by Tamil people have been annexed with the Ampaa’rai district by the Colombo government under the pretext that the fence construction takes place at Kachchatkodi Suvaami Malai in Paddip-pazhai Divisional Secretariat division.

The matter was immediately brought to the notice of the Batticaloa District Government Agent and Paddipazhai Divisional Secretary.

They were unaware of the construction of elephant fence appropriating the lands belong to Tamil villagers in the Batticaloa district, Mr Thurairatnam said.

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