PROJECTS IN CONSERVATION AREA WITHDRAWN STATE PLANTATIONS CORPORATION

No land belonging to the Knuckles Conservation Forest had been given to investors to carry out projects

SPC Chairman Thilak Mahanama told a news conference that no land belonging to the Knuckles Conservation Forest had been given to investors to carry out projects and added that they had withdrawn said projects followed by a ministerial direction.

He also said 95 per cent of land attached to the Knuckles Conservation Forest belonged to the SPC and vowed that it would protect the Knuckles Mountain Range which was a world heritage recognized by the UNESCO.

“We have not committed any fault in this Knuckles Mountain Range’s issue.the issue is in the side of the institutes relating to the forest conservation.they have not given us a clear knowledge on the boundary of the Knuckles Conservation Forest.there is a buffer zone of 500m attached to the forest. It is also confusing,” he said. “The SPC has agreed to give land for a certain project in Midland Estate of Knuckles Mountain Range and later we got to know that said land belonged to the Knuckles conservation area. We have withdrawn the agreement right after it,” he added. He said another proposal for a dairy farm which was to be carried out in Hare Park Estate was withdrawn after revelations that those lands belonged to Knuckles conservation area.

He also said no land in the Knuckles Conservation Forest had been given to any party to carry out any sort of project proposal accordingly.