Two suspects were arrested along with an unregistered tractor allegedly belonging to a police officer attached to Dehiwala Police while illegally reclaiming a swamp at the Manthrimulla area within the Bellanwila – Attidiya Bird Sanctuary.
The suspects, who are residents of Dehiwala and Badowita in Mount Lavinia, were arrested by the Attidiya Wildlife officials.
The suspects have revealed that this tractor belonged to a police officer of the Dehiwala Police and that they were deployed in this illegal activity by providing them with diesel on a daily basis.
The wildlife officials said that even though the tractor was driven on the roads in Dehiwala and Mt.Lavinia without a number plate and other documents, the police officers do not inspect it since they recognize the vehicle.
On a previous occasion, the wildlife officials have also complained to the Boralesgamuwa Police that when they attempted to arrest the tractor while it was reclaiming a plot of land in front of the Bellanwila Temple, the driver had sped up and fled the location by damaging the cab in which the wildlife officials arrived at the location.
The arrested suspects and the vehicle were produced to the court as they have violated the Article 7 of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance.
The tractor was ordered to be kept in the custody of the court until the investigations are completed and two suspects were ordered to be kept in remand since no one had come forward to bail them out despite being given bail on two personal sureties of Rs.100,000 each.
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has said that an investigation into the recent incident where a student fell from the footboard of a ‘Sisu Sariya’ school bus, has revealed that the accident had resulted from the careless and negligent behaviour of both the driver and the conductor.
Issuing a statement, the NTC noted that, based on the preliminary findings, the Road Passenger Transport Authority of the North Western Province has taken steps to temporarily suspend the services of the driver and conductor involved.
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation – K.D. Lal Kantha has announced that the government has decided to import 300,000 MT of maize.
Speaking to the media after attending a District Development Committee meeting at the Kandy District Secretariat yesterday (July 03), the Minister explained that this decision was taken to prevent traders from artificially inflating maize prices.
He stated that certain large and medium-scale businesses dealing with animal feed have been hoarding maize, buying it from farmers at fair prices and reselling it at much higher rates.
According to the Minister, these traders were trying to push maize prices up to Rs.190-200 per kilogram, which would have driven up the cost of eggs to Rs.200 each and increased meat prices significantly.
The Minister emphasized that while businesses are entitled to make a profit, the government will not allow unfair price manipulation. He also noted that, in the past, even ministers profited from animal products, but those days have ended and racketeers will not be allowed to control the market.
To prevent excessive price drops that could hurt farmers, the Food Security Committee has proposed imposing a tax on imported maize, he said.
