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By Sandun A Jayasekera
In another controversial land alienation at Muthurajawela, the government has decided to lease out over 4 acres of reclaimed land from the protected wetlands for 30 years to a private company, the Daily Mirror learns.
A portion of land in the ‘Muturajawela Industrial Zone’ an extent of 400 acres of sand fill belonging to the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation (SLLDC) will thus be transferred to Emergent Cold (Pvt) Ltd. to establish a cool room facility project. The transfer of the state land located in a protected wetland area has been approved by the Board of Investment (BOI) and also by the SLLDC. However, the Muturajawela wetlands and its surrounding area has become a subject of controversy after the government in 1996 declared 1,777 ha (4,390 acres) of the northern part of the Muthurajawela marsh land as a wetland sanctuary under the Flora and Fauna Protection Act, in recognition of its vast bio-diversity.
Environmentalists, NGOs, civil society and people living in the vicinity of the Muturajawela wetlands have on numerous occasions challenged and protested to attempts by state establishments and private companies to use the Muturajawela wetlands and the surrounding area for commercial purposes.
Since then, various individuals backed by politicians and state establishments have had a constant struggle claiming ownership to plots of land at Muturajawela for commercial and private purposes. Even the Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has challenged those who are planning commercial development of the Muthurajawela wetlands.