Wattamadu Grassland under threat: Dairy farmers, clergy stage battle against paddy farmers to protect their Human Rights

Members of the Wattamadu Dairy Farmers’ Association together with a group of supportive Buddhist monks arrive at the Ampara District Office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on June 27 to submit a complaint alleging that there is a conspiracy underway to deprive them of their rights to the Wattamadu grassland 

• The Wattamadu Grassland had been allocated to dairy farmers in Ampara District by the then government through a Gazette in 1974

Alleging that a conspiracy is underway to deprive them of their rights to the Wattamadu grassland, the only grassland in the Wattamadu area of Akkaraipattu in the Ampara District, and that, if this were to happen, the human rights of around 300 Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim dairy farmers engaged in cattle farming in the Ampara District would be violated, a group of officials of the Alayadivembu Livestock and Dairy Farmers Agriculture Co-operative Society, together with Ven. Senapathiye Ananda, President of the Northern and Eastern Sinhala Organization, and several members of the Maha Sangha from the area, submitted a complaint to the Ampara District Office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on June 27.

Speaking to the media after submitting the complaint to the Ampara District Office of the Human Rights Commission, Ven. Senapathiye Ananda said that the Wattamadu grassland, which had been allocated to dairy farmers in the Ampara District by the then government through a Gazette in 1974, has, following the period of terrorist conflict, become the target of attempts by an organised group to forcibly seize the land and drive the dairy farmers away.  He pointed out that the grassland is home to more than 30,000 dairy cattle, and that if it is taken away from them, not only would the cattle be affected, but the livelihoods of around 300 dairy farming families in the Ampara District would also be placed at risk.

“The Wattamadu grassland, covering an extent of 4,000 acres, is the only grassland in the Ampara District. It provides habitat, protection and food not to dairy cattle, but also to around 250 to 300 wild elephants. If this land is taken away from the dairy farmers and distributed among paddy farmers, these wild elephants will also lose their habitat. If that happens, the elephants may begin entering villages, resulting in serious destruction. Moreover, if the dairy farmers lose the grassland that was allocated to them, they will have no alternative but to graze their cattle in government forests, which will create an unnecessary problem. Therefore, we kindly request the relevant authorities not to attempt to distribute this grassland, which was reserved specifically for dairy farmers in 1974 and ensure that it remains with the dairy farmers.”

Ven. Senapathiye Ananda Thera further stated that 525 paddy farmers claiming ownership of the grassland had, in 2015, produced 525 land permits, claiming they had been issued by the Thirukkovil Divisional Secretariat. However, he said that the Assistant Land Commissioner of Ampara had confirmed that all of those permits were forged and legally invalid. He further stated that, under such circumstances, it is shameful that instead of taking action against those who had allegedly attempted to fraudulently acquire state land, efforts are now being made to allocate the mentioned land to them. He added that the Maha Sangha of the Ampara District is committed to protecting the rights of 

these dairy farmers.