Animal welfare organizations have protested against sending Sri Lankan animals to other countries either for meat or scientific research purposes.
They said this in response to a discussion held yesterday (11) regarding the sending of Sri Lankan Toque macaques (known as ‘Rilau’ in Sinhala), to China.
Environmentalist Dr. Jagath Gunawardena said that Sri Lankan animals can be sent to foreign countries only for conservation programmes or animal exchange programmes.
Environmentalists also said that a proper survey must be conducted before sending Sri Lankan Toque macaques to China.
Discussion held with Minister of Agriculture
Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera has proposed to send 100,000 Toque macaques to China as a method to minimise the crop damage caused by these animals and to control their population.
The Ministry of Agriculture said that the minister has taken this decision following a request made by China to provide these animals to China.
A delegation from China met with the minister yesterday (11) to discuss the matter.
The ministry said that the Chinese authorities have made this request to display these Toque macaques in their zoos.
A group of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Zoological Gardens Department and the Wildlife Department also joined the discussion held between the Chinese delegation and the Minister of Agriculture.
Under the first phase, it has been discussed to send 100,000,000 Toque macaques to China.
Committee to be appointed
It is planned to appoint a committee consisting of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Department of Zoological Gardens, Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Attorney General’s Department to prepare the required legal proceedings in this regard.
It has also been decided to immediately prepare the Cabinet paper needed to set up this committee which will be appointed to study the legal background to send Toque macaques to a foreign country.
According to a study conducted by the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute in 2022, it has been revealed that in the first six months of the year from January to June, 93 million coconuts have been destroyed by monkeys, Toque macaques and giant squirrels.
The farmers alleged that although various solutions have been proposed in the past regarding the alternative measures that can be taken to avoid the crop damage caused by animals, none of them have been implemented in a positive manner.
At present, the population of Toque macaques in Sri Lanka is close to 3 million, and the Ministry of Agriculture said that all the efforts made by the government to reduce this population have failed.
Meanwhile, a group of farmers have requested the Minister of Agriculture to give them firearms to kill the animals that damage crops.
During a meeting of the Committee on Public Enterprises (CoPE), it was revealed that ten students of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura were unjustly charged a monetary penalty in connection with damages caused to a university hostel due to a student clash.
The committee pointed out that the amount charged was three times the actual value of the damaged university property, which is the maximum amount that can be legally charged, along with an additional surcharge of 25%. Accordingly, the Vice-Chancellor of the university informed the committee that if there has been an error in the calculation of the charges, steps would be taken to rectify it.
The Chair of the committee further instructed the officials to reconsider the fairness of imposing the fine only on one party involved in the clash, and not both parties.These matters were discussed during the COPE meeting held on the 20th at the Parliament under the Chairmanship of Dr. Nishantha Samaraweera, MP, to examine the audit reports for the years 2022 and 2023 and the current performance of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
The committee held extensive discussions on various issues, including the composition of the university staff, the financial situation, the condition of buildings and constructions, and the relationship between the students and the university administration, emphasizing the need to maintain a student-friendly environment.
It was also disclosed during the committee meeting that the university’s full-time bursar had been released to serve as a non-executive director of a private company. Committee members raised concerns over releasing a person holding a full-time position without consulting the Ministry, describing such decisions as problematic.
Responding to this, the Registrar stated that the bursar was released in a manner that would not hinder her official duties. Nevertheless, the committee was informed of the number of leave days obtained by the bursar and that there had been 44 days in 2024 for which no arrival or departure entries had been recorded. The Chair instructed the Registrar to rectify this information.The committee also had an in-depth discussion about the recruitment of a project manager without a formal public announcement or a proper application process, which was deemed a deviation from the accepted recruitment procedures.
Accordingly, the committee chairman directed the Secretary to the Ministry to investigate and prepare a report on the problematic recruitment practices in the university’s staff appointments.
Further, the committee discussed the university’s financial deposits. It was revealed that although Rs. 10,500 had been charged per student for the 2024 external degree convocation, over Rs. 5.3 million remained unutilized after the event. The committee drew attention to this matter and instructed the officials to determine such fees in a more affordable manner for students. The university administration informed the committee that they have decided to reduce the amount charged for convocations from this year onwards.
Meanwhile, the committee also held lengthy discussions on the existing and past problematic conditions related to the university’s buildings and construction projects.Members of Parliament Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney at Law, Nilanthi Kottachchi. Attorney-at-Law, Ruwan Mapalagama, Asitha Niroshana Egoda Vithana, Thilina Samarakoon, Chandima Hettiaratchi, and Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney at Law participated in this committee meeting.
The Israeli government has said it agreed to the ceasefire proposal after “achieving the objectives” of its attacks on Iran. According to the statement, Israel has removed Iran’s “dual immediate existential threat” from nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
It also says Israel has “inflicted severe damage on the military leadership, and destroyed dozens of central Iranian government targets”.
The statement goes on to say that Israeli forces, in the last day, have “severely struck government targets in the heart of Tehran, eliminating hundreds of Basij operatives” – a militia the Iranian government often uses to suppress protests – and “eliminating another senior nuclear scientist”.
“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defence and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” the statement adds.
Earlier, Iran state TV news channel IRINN says a ceasefire has been “imposed” on Israel following the “successful” Iranian attack on the US base in Qatar.
State TV said in a statement that Trump “begged” for a ceasefire following Iran’s attack. The statement was read aloud by the presenter.
The statement also hailed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Army and praised the “resistance” of Iranians.
The statement also called Iran’s attack on the US base in Qatar as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “successful” response to the US attacking three Iranian nuclear sites, while Qatar said all missiles were intercepted.
