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.
A gazette extraordinary has been issued containing the names of Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Chairpersons, and Vice-Chairpersons of several local government institutions.
The names have been gazetted based on recommendations sent to the National Election by political parties and independents groups that secured a majority in local government bodies at the recently concluded Local Government (LG) election.
Accordingly, the Election Commission has taken steps to publish the names from among the political parties and independent groups that secured a majority at the Local Government election held recently.
The names of the elected and nominated members for the respective local authorities, following the Local Government election were also published in the government gazette based on the respective administrative districts.
As per the gazette notification issued by the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils, and Local Government on February 17, 2025, the term of office of local government bodies is scheduled to commence on June 2, 2025
Prevailing showery condition in the southwestern part of the island is expected to reduced gradually from today (01st)
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts.
Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts during the afternoon or night.
Fairly strong winds of about (30-40) kmph can be expected at times over Western slopes of the central hills and in Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Hambantota and Trincomalee districts.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Former Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and former Sathosa Chairman Nalin Fernando, sentenced this week to jail for 20 and 25 years, respectively, have been assigned duties in the printing section at the Welikada prison, sources said.
Both of them are being held together away from the main section of the prison’s ‘chapel’ section, where prisoners serving life sentences and those convicted of murder and rape are held. The prison’s printing section prints its own documentation.
Prison sources said that in placing them in relevant wards to serve their jail term, the authorities had taken into consideration the security of the two convicts, as they might have had political enemies.
Mr Aluthgamage was handed a 20-year term of rigorous imprisonment, while Mr Fernando was given a 25-year term of rigorous imprisonment by a High Court trial-at-bar after being found guilty of causing a Rs 53 million loss to the state.
They were accused of importing carrom boards and checkers boards through Sathosa during the 2015 presidential elections and distributing them to clubs.
Their lawyers said yesterday they were awaiting the certified copy of the judgement to prepare the appeal papers. The appeal will be considered by the Supreme Court.
(sundaytimes.lk) (This story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)
