Organised rings backed by occupying Colombo exploit natural resources in East
The Sinhala police and the military of occupying Colombo, collaborating with businessmen from South, are exploiting the natural resources of Paduvaan-karai region, where the major cultivable lands of Eezham Tamils in the Batticaloa district are situated. Paduvaan-karai, also known for dairy and cattle farming for decades, is being systematically targeted for Sinhalicisaton and colonisation by the Sinhalese from Polonnaruwa district under the rule of Maithiriapala Sirisena as the president and the minister of Mahaweli ‘development’. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are also backing Sirisena's discriminative ‘development’ programmes under the System B of Mahaweli irrigation scheme. It is under these circumstances, the occupying forces of genocidal Sri Lanka are engaged in plundering the sand and logging trees by harbouring the exploitative rings from the South.
When Paduvaankarai was under the de-facto Tamil Eelam administration of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the past, the environmental department of the civil administration of the LTTE was preserving the jungles for a long time. Now, Muthirai (Satin wood), Paalai (Iron wood) and Veampu (Margosa) trees are being cut in large numbers by the occupying Sinhala establishment.
Overwhelming sand scooping and illegal logging are reported in Poaratheevup-pattu (Vellaa-ve'li), Ma'nmunai South West (Paddip-pazhai), Ma'nmunai West (Vavu'na-theevu), Ea'raavoor-pattu (Chengkaladi), Koa'ra'laip-pattu North (Vaakarai) and Koa'ra'laip-pattu South (Kiraan).
The traditional agriculture by the native people in the district, which was in harmony with the environment, is facing a serious challenge as the ecosystem, which was protected from external exploitation, is being compromised, grassroots activists in Batticaloa complain.
The excavated sand is being transported through Polonnaruwa to Colombo. There are also unconfirmed reports of organised rings getting involved in lucrative overseas export of the sand to destinations such as Maldives.
The exploitation is going on unabated day and night in Vakaneri irrigation scheme in Paduvaankarai, 34 km northwest of Batticaloa city.
40 acres of lands have been subjected to worst kind of sand scooping in Pe'nduka'l-cheanai village located in Koa'ra'laip-pattu, concerned civil officials said.
It is under these circumstances, the ‘Polonnaruwa thinking’ of SL President Maithiripala Sirisena is operating against the nation of Eezham Tamils, they commented.
System B is the largest of Mahaweli ‘Development’ programme. It consists of 75,441 ha., including 27,179 ha of irrigable lands in Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa districts.
Eezham Tamil farmers and fishermen in Batticaloa, facing the crisis in various forms from time to time, feel that they are under a persistent pressure to move away from their areas in the western hinterland of the district.
Paduvaan-karai was under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during the times of the war and during the ceasefire monitored by the Nordic countries between 2002 and 2006.
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