‘Vistas For Prosperity’: A Concept That Has No Relevance To What The President Does!

By DNR Samaranayaka –MARCH 26, 2021

DNR Samaranayaka

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the choice of the people to replace the Yahapalana government in 2019; it became a reality with 6.9 million voting for him and electing him as the president. He was very proudly saying that he was elected by 6.9 million people in the country, which is something that had not happened in the past; but he has not said this lately as he knows that this support does not exist anymore. His policy of “I will do what I want” has also backfired. People are beginning to criticize him about his policy decisions. He does not realize that he was elected with 6.9 million is to help the ailing economy and improve the living standards of the people. His focus has been so far is to help his relatives, friends and henchmen although he promised not to follow this path at the beginning. He does not open his mouth on that issue anymore. The large scale deforestation that can be observed currently is partly due to the President’s belief that agriculture is the path to bring the country towards prosperity. This policy is an encouragement to those already involved in illegal clearing of forests. Some are also using this opportunity to engage in large scale logging of valuable trees. He has already started his campaign for the next presidential election with his Gama Samanga Pilisandarak project by making promises that he cannot deliver. People are already calling him a looser due to his failure to deal with issues that matter to the people. The question is who will want him for another term?

1. Environment destruction under Gotabaya administration

Since the formation of the SLPP government at the end of 2019, there had been a visible destruction of native forests in the country. At the rate of the ongoing destruction of forests, it appears that deforestation is taking place unabated. It was reported in Ada daily paper, on 20 March 2021, that there had been 270 incidents of illegal forest clearings in the country from January 2020 to March 2021 involving 62, 000 acres. According to a recent news item in the Island, the government is planning to release 800,000 acres to corporations for the development of agriculture. Another 24 investors have also been allocated Rs. 24 billion worth of forest land. These are only a few destructions of forests in a large number of incidents reported since 2020. Large scale Logging for timber is also another source of destruction of forests; it has also been intensified under the current administration.

The destruction of forests had been going on under previous administrations as well, but the large scale destruction that is happening now is unprecedented. Articles highlighting this catastrophe have appeared in almost all daily papers recently such as Daily Mirror, Island, Daily News, Financial Times and Observer. These reports have brought this disaster into the public domain. Although the president is aware of the problem, he is behaving as if no such destruction is taking place in the country. He, however, admits that he has requested the authorities to release the lands that have been acquired by the government to legal owners. This policy has given those involved in forests destruction to freely engage in what they have been doing earlier. This is totally against what he preached earlier about his commitment to protect the environment. Since the beginning of 2021, there had been more than 50 incidents of forest clearances in the country. The government has failed to file even a single case against those involved in this disaster.

Forests are needed for our survival

Forests consist of various geographical features such as trees, plants, lakes, streams, villus, wet lands, hills, and rocks. It is the diversity of forests that attracts their presence. Forests are also the habitats of thousands of species of animals. Many animals, big and small, that we had in the past have now vanished due to the shrinking of forests and hunting them for their meat or body parts. Deforestation could also increase hunting due to the exposure of animal habitats. 

The most important contribution of forests is its capacity to absorb CO₂, (carbon dioxide), commonly known as greenhouse gases. These gases are the result of emissions from burning of oil, coal, and natural gas. Burning of forests is also a source of emission of CO₂ to the environment. The absorbing capacity of CO₂ increases with the size of the forest cover. This is the reason that forests are important for the survival of humanity. Every human on earth breaths in oxygen and breaths out carbon dioxide. Oceans are the main provider of oxygen with about 50% to 80% of total oxygen on earth and forests account for 20% to 30% of oxygen on earth. Normally, the variation of oxygen supply is closely related to the changes in forest cover. When forest cover is reduced, by cutting it down, it is impact can be felt from adverse changes in the environment such as increasing temperature, continuous period of rain fall, frequent floods, droughts, storms and bush fires. It can cause respiratory diseases as well. These issues could have devastating effects on people, economies, and properties. 

Causes of forest destruction

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