The Yala debacle and the need for accountability

Visitor guidelines are not followed, carrying capacity is exceeded, speed and noise restrictions are not respected and when there is a sighting of a leopard the animal gets harassed when jeeps crowd around it. Visitors to parks have this notion they are places for off-roading and merry making and not as places where biodiversity has to be protected. In other countries it is essential to maintain distances between vehicles, adhere to speed limits, a guide has to be in every vehicle entering the park, off-roading is not allowed, and visitors get a briefing before they enter the park. The DWC has to take responsibility for creating this situation.

By Sarasi Wijeratne

The magistrate in Tissamaharama has ordered an investigation following the incursion into Yala National Park last week by a group in a convoy of luxury vehicles. The investigation which will be conducted by the Department of Wildlife Conservation will include an assessment of the damage to the ecosystem in the area, expert analysis of digital evidence such as videos and photographs of the incident which have appeared on public platforms and tracing the registered owners of the vehicles.

The DWC is not waiting until the next hearing date, which is in the second week of November, but is filing motions and presenting any substantial evidence as and when it becomes available.  “This is not an easy investigation,”says DWC Director Operations Ranjan Marasinghe. “We are following the necessary steps and the Attorney General will advice what should be done.”

The immediate hope is for a just outcome because cracks have started to show already.  It will be driven largely by how the DWC will conduct the investigation. The DWC is fighting a public trust deficit and the end result of the investigation will make or break its reputation even more.  The incident has re-opened an old can of worms about its role as custodian of the country’s wealth of flora and fauna under the shadow of political pressure at its top.

Sajeewa Chamikara, an environmental activist, is not optimistic about the investigation being conducted transparently and with an equitable conclusion. He justifies his point by taking the example where the vehicle which the Minister for Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera was travelling in hit a deer and it died. The facts of the case are disputed. Environmentalists and sources in the Udawalawe national park claim the accident happened inside the park at about 8 p.m., which is past the cut off time of 6 p.m. for visitors to leave the park, and that Amaraweera’s vehicle had been speeding. The DWC is accused of hushing up the incident because of the involvement of the minister. According to Marasinghe and Amaraweera the accident happened outside a protected area and a police inquiry is going on.  

The fact however is that it has been more than two months since the incident and details are still in the dark. The delay confirms public perception that the slogan one country, one law, made popular by deposed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is being perverted by authorities into one country with two laws. The allegation that Amaraweera drove his vehicle inside Sinharaja Forest Reserve is another black mark against him which persists.

Marasinghe feels the finger pointing at the DWC is unfair. “We are doing what we have to do with the resources we have. Take for instance the criticism that we took long to respond to this Yala incident. The date on which it happened was a holiday and we couldn’t do much but as soon as we were able, we went to court.”

It was a feeling of deja vu as video clips of a convoy of luxury vehicles entering the park and thrashing the serenity of Yala’s landscape went viral on social media, to be followed soon by mainstream media. Pictures of defenders, jeeps and other SUVs spinning their wheels off the beaten tracks whipped up public outrage. The locations in the eye of the storm are Welmalkema, Digamwala and Suduwelimulla in Block 1.  

Many were quick to draw a parallel with scenes on the Colombo-Puttalam Road in March this year when the Spin Riders Club drove in a convoy of luxury vehicles and motor bicycles for what they claimed was a fundraiser. The incident took place when the rest of the country was in the grip of a fuel shortage and sparked questions of how the group had fuel to burn. 

A source said the Spin Riders, which advertises extreme safaris in Yala, had also been a part of this group. Several jeeps had also gone into Block 2 where some sources say off road driving is allowed and others say it is not.

 Chamikara, who is also in the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform, highlights some of the breaches to the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance from the incursion.  “Getting out of jeeps, off road driving, flying a drone, being in possession of alcohol and speeding are some of the most obvious. 

These acts disturb the ecosystem. Open areas such as these are feeding grounds for migrant birds. 

They are also nesting places. Lapping and resident water birds frequent these spaces and sambur and deer come here looking for food.

The onslaught on Yala has thrown up questions again about political power at play, in particular the involvement of Amaraweera who ironically, is also the Minister for Wildlife. He was earlier the Minister for Environment. Amaraweera who had been overseas at the time of the incident is alleged to have telephoned the Director General of the DWC to authorise the group’s entry into the park, a charge which Marasinghe denies. 

According to reliable sources on the ground Amaraweera’s son, one or two of his nephews and the son- in- law of MP Rohitha Abeygunewardene had been among the group. Amaraweera’s son had allegedly kept a low profile. Appearing in journalist Chamuditha Samarawickreme’s TV show, environmental activist Nayanaka Ranwella explained how the Director General of the DWC non-committal had been when he asked him the same question.  

“He didn’t say yes, nor did he say no,” said Ranwella. The presence of Amaraweera’s son in the group is refuted by Marasinghe and he says he does not know about the presence of Amaraweera’s nephew. “I have to check whether the nephew was in the group and I am not willing to comment on this because it is a political matter.  Legal action will be taken against whoever misbehaved in the park.”  Meanwhile Amaraweera, clearing his throat intermittently, told the media that his son was not among the group. “I can tell you very responsibly that he did not go to Yala, not even to Galle.”

Amaraweera’s reference to Galle is presumably a pointer at the group’s escapades on the Southern highway in violation of its rules including travelling at high speed and standing and travelling with sunroofs down.  Their exploits on the highway had delayed their arrival in Yala to the afternoon and according to unconfirmed reports, in the rush to clear 32 jeeps which is a number given by Marasinghe, the jeeps were bunched together in groups of five and registered on one entry sheet. The normal practice is for one entry sheet to be issued to every vehicle entering the park.

Earlier in the week, nine people who were arrested for violating park rules after coming forward voluntarily were given conditional bail by the court and seven vehicles with their keys were taken into the custody of the court.  At the time of writing, five of the suspects had been released on bail and so was Amaraweera’s nephew who handed himself in yesterday. “We objected to bail, but the offence was a bailable one,” says Marasinghe. 

According to the ground sources these men who were arrested and released were allegedly not involved in the incident but had merely put themselves forward. 

They had allegedly been told they will be paid their salaries until their court cases are resolved and they will get their jobs back. They had also been told that nothing could be done about the break in the continuity of their employment. 

“We had no option but to produce these people in court because they surrendered,” explains Marasinghe.  “If it transpires that they had nothing to do with the incident, what they did will be in contempt of court and there will be legal repercussions.” During Ranwella’s talk with Samarawickreme, he flags how a Facebook post brags there will be a repeat of the Yala incident, signs of a system already reeking of impunity.

In addition to the nine people, seven guides were suspended on the instructions of the Secretary to the Ministry R.M.C.M. Herath.  Sources allege these guides, who are in the temporary cadre of the DWC and who have become scapegoats, had also been told their salaries will be paid until the case is resolved.

According to Chamikara this incident did not take place in isolation. He places the blame squarely on the DWC for laying the foundation for it with poor management and enforcement. “Visitor guidelines are not followed, carrying capacity is exceeded, speed and noise restrictions are not respected and when there is a sighting of a leopard the animal gets harassed when jeeps crowd around it. Visitors to parks have this notion they are places for off-roading and merry making and not as places where biodiversity has to be protected. In other countries it is essential to maintain distances between vehicles, adhere to speed limits, a guide has to be in every vehicle entering the park, off-roading is not allowed, and visitors get a briefing before they enter the park. The DWC has to take responsibility for creating this situation.”

The President and Ministry didn’t waste time appointing committees to look into the transgressions that took place in Yala.  If the predecessors of such committees are testimonies, these ritualistic appointments will continue to add to accusations of lip service and whitewash but do little to reinstate public confidence. Their findings are made public selectively and implementation is usually gone with the wind. 

The President also issued a directive to introduce new laws to stop private vehicles from entering the parks and the ministry took a similar decision to ban the entry of the vehicles and people that took part in the raid on Yala from going into any national park for three years. 

These are more likely to be viewed as knee jerk responses that will add to an already burgeoning set of laws for which there is no will for enforcement, and an escape clause for servants of the public – in this case Amaraweera and those at the top of the DWC’s organisational chart-to shirk accountability and keep passing the buck. 

(Source: https://counterpoint.lk/yala-debacle-need-accountability/)