Aboriginal leader Uruwarige Vannila Aththo and the Environmental Justice Center have filed a petition in the Court of Appeal seeking annulment of the decision taken by the Mahaweli Authority to take over their lands and hand them over to private companies for maize cultivation.
The Mahaweli Authority, the Director General of the Forest Department, the Director General of the Wildlife Department, the Minister of Wildlife C.B Ratnayake and the Secretary to the Ministry of Environment have been named as respondents in the petition.
The aboriginal leader of the petitioner states that steps have been taken to take over the lands belonging to his native lands where he has lived for centuries under the Mahaweli Authority and hand them over to companies for cultivating maize.