The President must act now to stop this wanton, wilful destruction

The wanton and wilful destruction of our precious forests and natural environment is taking place at an alarming rate, since of late, according to reports both in the print and electronic media.

Unauthorised clearing of vast stretches of jungle, illegal felling of valuable trees, filling of the much-needed wetlands specially mangrove habitats, large scale encroachments, haphazard sand mining and quarrying etc., have all contributed immensely to both deforestation and degradation of habitat in our motherland.

This sorry state of affairs is no doubt, a grave concern to all patriotic citizens of our country, to say the least.

All governments so far paid either scant attention or turned a blind eye altogether to this matter and confined their political rhetoric on sustainable development, protection of the environment, green economy and all that mostly to election platforms and Parliament.

That said, it is common knowledge that unscrupulous politicians of the past and present with their forceful influence coupled with the unholy patronage extended by corrupt state officials have well and truly brought about this destructive situation that we are facing today.

The country’s forest cover which stood at 44% in 1956, is now reduced to an alltime low of 22% of the total land area!

However, the large-scale multipurpose development projects implemented since independence viz. agriculture, irrigation, power generation, industries, tourism and so on too have contributed to a great extent in this regard, which is understood and unavoidable considering the needs and development of the country.

However, given the alarming nature and intensity of the present illegal deforestation and degradation of environment, it's high time the incumbent President - a disciplined military officer- focused his attention forthwith to control and contain this national disaster.

The much-expected winds of change for the country and its citizenry under the new President, who has now completed one year in office, are yet to be seen. As such, it is most opportune for the President to direct and entrust the battlehardened present Army commander who is very effectively and efficiently directing the institutionalized COVID- 19 quarantine programme, to halt these nefarious activities and to save our motherland, so that the well-being of the present as well as future generations is guaranteed.

The newly formed Drone regiment of the Sri Lanka Army could be hugely useful in this operation and with Army cantoments spread throughout the country with ample resources at their disposal, it is fervently hoped that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would do the needful, sooner than later.

Where there is a will, there is a way.