Vedda chief files petition against acquiring native lands

Leader of Sri Lanka’s indigenous (Vedda) community Uru Warige Wannila Aththo and the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) have filed a petition at the Court of Appeal seeking a court order preventing the Mahaweli Authority from acquiring the indigenous community’s lands for maize cultivation.

The Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Minister C.B. Ratnayake and the Secretary to the ministry are among the respondents named in the petition.

In the petition, the Vedda chief states that steps are being taken for the Mahaweli Authority to take over their native lands, where his community has been living for centuries, and hand them over to private companies for the cultivation of maize.