18 June 2022 08:41 am Views - 147
HIPG officials and government officials unveiling the board together with villagers
Initial steps under a US$ 50,000 grant provided to State agencies by the Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) towards resolving the human-elephant conflict in the district began last week.
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Johnson Liu, CEO of HIPG and H.P. Sumanasekara; District Secretary at the project commencement ceremony |
Work commenced on a 5.8 km electric fence in the Thammannawa Village, Hambantota Division. The effort was carried out by the Wildlife Conservation Department under the supervision of the Divisional Secretariat. The hanging fence surrounding the village will protect 60 families, i.e. approximately 200 residents and their crops.
As one of the largest business organisations operating in the region, the Hambantota International Port (HIP) is invested in the safety of surrounding communities and in protecting the environment. HIP believes that supporting this initiativewill serve as a step in solving the human elephant conflict. This new hanging fence will replace the current traditional fence which has not been able to keep elephants at bay.
“The environmental and social development of our surrounding communities is an essential part of our port development agenda. We set up the Human-Elephant Peace fund under our environment protection initiative, to find solutions to the ongoing conflict. Since this is a high priority issue in the district that needs to be addressed we are supporting the project and all actions with regard to mitigation are decided and implemented by the Department of Wildlife Conservation under the leadership of the District Secretariat,” said Johnson Liu, CEO of HIPG.
Depending on the success of the initial operations HIPG will continue giving support, so that the safety of the people in the district is assured whilst at the same time, sustainable solutions are found for the elephant population in the area, added Liu.