Deal #3811

There are complaints about Dole forcibly acquiring 1,000 acres or 405 ha of land. Dole Lanka has not obtained any approval for the Buttala banana plantation. The projects also have neither obtained Central Environmental Authority (CEA) approval nor have they been submitted for environment impact assessment (EIA).

Dole was heavily critized by environmentalists and media in 2011 for clearing land in the Somawathiya national park. It claims to have stopped its operations in this area.

The company cleared more than 15,600 acres of forest lands for banana cultivation in the Somawathiya National Park, Lunugamvehera National Park and in Buttala in the Monaragala district. There is plenty of evidence to prove that Dole Lanka Private Limited is using these lands, at the borer of Lunugamwehera National Park, illegally.

Dole Lanka has denied water for the farmers from the Wekada Wewa in Buttala. Over the past several years the villagers have been taking water from this tank for their cultivations. The banana plantation has expanded round this tank and blocked the waterway denying water to the villagers. When asked as to what action they will take against Dole Lanka (Pvt) Ltd for clearing more than 3900 acres in the Monaragala dist rict, Hitisekera said that the people and their belongings including the machinery could be taken into custody. “ The villu ecosystems in the floodplains of Mahaweli River and Kandakaduwa Canal and the nearby forests which are inhabited by elephants have been destroyed for the agriculture project. Crop-raids by elephants and other animals might lead villagers to give up their agricultural activities and seek other forms of employment.

Subsequently, Dole Lanka got in touch with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the government authority responsible for monitoring the national parks, and asked for advice in this matter.