උක් වගාවකට චීනයට කුඩුම්බිමලෛහි හෙක්ටයාර් 68,250ක් දීලා

Champa Thursday, 19 July 2018 09:17 PM

What? We didn’t even know about this. 68,250 hectares? Are your sure the number because 1 hectare is equal to 2 ½ acres. I remember vehemently opposing a government move to allocate 62,500 acres in Uva-Wellassa to a New York based multinational company to grow sugarcane last year. May be the government has changed the foreign company. What is the local company? Is it MS Holdings AGAIN? No way! Sugarcane needs lot of water. It is regarded as one of thirstiest crops. It needs 1500-3000 liters of water per kg of the crop. What will happen is, if they grow sugarcane there won’t be enough water for other crops. Soil erosion and degradation will also become an issue. Deforestation in Batticaloa District has already damaged the ecosystem and the natural vegetation. Growing sugarcane in 68,250 acres (?) will further reduce the forest cover. (Cont'd...........)

Reply : 0       0

Champa Thursday, 19 July 2018 09:21 PM

I checked the map. I couldn’t find the exact location which is Kudadumbimalai. But Eravur Pattu and surrounding area have not much forest cover. Only shrubs which is worse. Many countries have abandoned growing sugarcane including some Caribbean countries. Change of farming system in Batticaloa will badly affect the climate. We cannot let this happen. South or North we should raise our voice to protect our lands from being occupied by foreign companies. We show solidarity to people in Batticaloa.--- What a shame Mr. President. You are the Minister of Environment. How did you give permission to sign this agreement? On behalf of the people in Batticaloa, I urge you to reverse your decision to allocate massive 68,250 acres (I am yet to verify the extent of the land) to a Chinese company. This is the same thing you tried to do to Uva Wellassa last year. Shame on you!

Reply : 0       0