Development work on the primary worldwide cricket stadium to be constructed within the Northern Province, which was inaugurated final 12 months with the laying of the muse stone by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has been ordered to be briefly suspended because of the absence of an Environmental Affect Evaluation (EIA) report.
The Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority, Professor Tilak Hewawasam, acknowledged that directions had been issued to halt the development work presently below means on the Jaffna Worldwide Cricket Stadium till the required environmental impression assessments are accomplished and formal approval is granted.
Development of the Jaffna Worldwide Cricket Stadium, being constructed on Mandaitivu Island, commenced on 1 September 2025 below the patronage of the President.
On the time, the President expressed confidence that the primary match on the stadium could possibly be held by the top of final 12 months, and that the primary worldwide match could possibly be staged inside three years.
Environmental Affect Evaluation
Nonetheless, Professor Hewawasam mentioned that as the mandatory environmental clearance had not been obtained from the Central Environmental Authority, directions had been issued just a few days in the past to droop the development and proceed with the preparation of an Environmental Affect Evaluation report.
He defined that approval had been granted to conduct the EIA, and that this approval could be legitimate for a most interval of round two years. The evaluation should be accomplished and the report submitted to the Central Environmental Authority for approval inside that interval.
As soon as the EIA report is acquired, it will likely be reviewed, and if no points are recognized, approval for building will probably be granted, Professor Hewawasam informed the BBC Sinhala Service.
‘Unlawful filling of wetlands’
Environmental activist Sajeeva Chamikara identified that the land chosen for the development of the worldwide cricket stadium on Mandaitivu Island is a delicate wetland ecosystem, and warned that the mission would lead to its destruction.
In a press release issued on 23 February below his signature, he alleged that Sri Lanka Cricket has already begun illegally filling the wetland system and fencing off the realm with out acquiring environmental approval.
The assertion additional notes that plans below the mission embrace not solely a global cricket stadium but in addition a golf course, residential models and a lodge complicated, forming a big sports activities metropolis. He warned that this might result in the entire destruction of the wetland system and the collapse of the small-scale fishing trade within the Jaffna lagoon.
Affect on migratory birds and small-scale fishermen
Chamikara defined that Mandaitivu Island includes a wetland system made up of mangroves, salt marshes and freshwater marshes, which function feeding grounds for big populations of resident and migratory wetland chook species.
He additionally cited analysis figuring out migratory birds from wetlands the world over that use the Jaffna wetland system.
As well as, he warned that because the Jaffna lagoon is a breeding floor for fish, prawns and crabs, the mission may severely impression the livelihoods and economic system of small-scale fishing communities.
‘A scientific, life like and people-centred growth course of’
Chamikara famous that in 2014, below funding from United Nations growth and environmental programmes, there had been proposals to declare the Jaffna lagoon a protected sanctuary. He expressed suspicion that long-standing plans to destroy the wetland system could be the motive such a declaration has not but been made.
The assertion emphasises that filling greater than 10 acres of wetland land for a growth mission requires prior written approval following an Environmental Affect Evaluation course of, and that failure to take action constitutes a punishable offence below the regulation. It additional notes that filling greater than two hectares of wetland additionally requires an archaeological impression evaluation and approval.
He alleged that Sri Lanka Cricket is forcibly implementing the mission with none of those approvals, apparently below stress from the President and the Minister of Sports activities, warning that this units a harmful precedent for future growth initiatives.
Chamikara confused that worldwide sports activities services must be established solely after feasibility research, at areas that don’t hurt the surroundings or individuals’s livelihoods, and with correct environmental approvals to make sure public profit.
“Having skilled how the surroundings, economic system and folks’s lives have been devastated by flawed planning below earlier governments, we anticipated a scientific, life like and people-centred growth course of from the current administration,” he concluded.
