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Questions and Answers

Land acquisition for Pinnawala Zoo

Question: I have a small coconut property of 13 acres at Rambukkana. In 1999 we were informed that our property was required for the purposes of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. They intended to acquire a total of around 50 acres. Some of the owners of the adjoining lands filed action against the acquisition and this delayed the project. But the authorities concerned have not given up the idea of acquiring the land. In March 2008 I received the 28 notice of acquisition. So I now cannot sell it. At the same time the Director of the Zoo, one of the authorities concerned told me that they have not yet decided about the acquisition. This is very unfair. It is because I wanted to help the Elephant Orphanage that I did not file action against the acquisition but if they are keeping me waiting indefinitely I must take some action. Its now 10 years since they first proposed this acquisition.

Please let me know what I should do about this matter.

Mrs G.H. De Livera - e-mail address.

Answer: We contacted the relevant officers and understand that the expansion of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is well in progress. Your land in Rambukkana has been identified for the new Pinnawala Zoo. Work on the new zoo is also in progress on the road side of the river. Your land is on the other side of the river and the development of your side of the zoo will be in 2010.

These projects get delayed with change of Governments and politicians. That’s why it has taken over 10 years. We appreciate the stand taken by you in order to help the elephant orphanage to put it in your own words. However it is for the new zoo but unfortunately you too appear to be changing your mind as per inquiries made by us. Trust you will think of country first and still offer your land for the new zoo. The moment you indicate your willingness as before the authorities concerned are agreeable to negotiate with you for the acquisition.

Proposed drain by Municipal Council causing damage to private drainage

Question: I built a house within municipal limits in late 1980s and after completion I was given a CoC certificate in 1991. I presented all necessary plans of the house before building and all plans were approved by the MC. Subsequently, the MC started filling the adjoining marshy land with waste matter. The owner ‘A’ of the land protested but the process continued. Subsequently, after a lapse of a few months the MC filed action against ‘A’ for unsanitary condition of the land which was breeding mosquitoes. The Magistrate came to the scene and the verdict was that the owner should cover the waste with good earth and owner ‘A’ complied. Now the MC is saying that there was a drain starting at the middle of this land and this drain should go through my land to a road side drain. Cutting such a drain will interfere with all my drainage pipes and waste water pipes to the drainage pit. They say that this is according to plan of drains that existed in 1967. When I made my building application no one said that such a drain was in existence and all my plans were passed accordingly. From this it is obvious that no such drain was in existence.

Please advise as to what course of action I should take with regard to this matter?

B. Siriwardena, Puhulwella.

Answer: It is difficult for us to comment without studying the details of your particular case. In some cases the COC have been granted without checking the drainage etc as constructed with the plan. We suggest that you consult a lawyer and send a letter to the Municipal Council, if in the opinion of the lawyer also, the Municipal Council is at fault. If the MC still insists, best alternative is for you to file civil action against the Municipal Council at the District Courts. You may be able to obtain an injunction against the Municipal Council proceeding with this proposed drain.

Sometimes there are conditions stipulated by the Municipal Council whilst approving the plan. These conditions if any have to be studied carefully by a lawyer before you take any action.

Procedure to commence an export/import business

Question: First of all I thank you very much for providing free service of legal advice through the Daily News which is very useful to the public.

I am a citizen of Sri Lanka and working in the private sector I have a friend who is a citizen of Australia. We both have decided to start a small business, as exporting cardamom, pepper and tea from Sri Lanka to Australia, in 100 gram packs and at least 1,000 kgs of each item at a time. He also informed that he could send stationery items from there.

In this regard what is the procedure I have to follow and whom should I contact? Also inform whether this is possible to do if so what the capital I should have for this purpose.

I shall be very much thankful if you will please provide the details in the Daily News as early as possible.

Sara, Hatton.

Answer: We presume that you want to commence this business of exports of tea and spices and import of stationery on a sole proprietor basis. For this purpose you first have to register you business as a sole proprietor business. This has to be done with your respective Provincial Council. In your case it is the Central Provincial Council. There is an application form for the registration of a business by an individual. You can also get this form from the Divisional Secretary’s Office in your area. In addition to filling the form, you will have to provide a copy of your NIC and a certificate from the Grama Sevaka Niladhari in your area. You will have to pay a fee of Rs. 500 or Rs. 1,000 for one day service, but we are not sure of the availability of this one day service in the Provincial Councils.

There is no capital requirement specified, you will require what you think is adequate capital for the volume and the payments LAG or your business.

Donation of body

Question: Following your advise on the above, I made inquiries from the faculty by letter and I received a cyclostyled reply on the letterhead of a professor. There was no form as mentioned in your advice. Instead the said letter states that “The body cannot be accepted if a postmortem examination has been done or if the pituitary gland has been removed.

I have a similar letter issued by the faculty on a letterhead of another professor sometime ago stating that bodies after major surgery are not accepted.

Since the first mentioned letter was not clear with regard to the condition of the body, I wrote a letter inquiring whether a body subject to a by-pass surgery qualifies for donation. The response was another copy of the first letter without clarification. Then I wrote a further letter quoting their second reply and requesting for clarification of by-pass surgery. In response I only received a form but no clarification. None of the cyclostyled letters were dated. My question still remains unanswered. Please be good enough to seek an authentic reply.

Donor, Mt. Lavinia

Answer: We have also arranged for a set of forms to be sent to you. Having undergone by-pass surgery is not a disqualification for the acceptance of a body that has under gone by-pass surgery. However, a body after a major surgery or a body after an accidental death will not be accepted. There are a few conditions as stipulated in the letters received by you which disqualify the acceptance of the body. A person who is in good health at the time of registering the offer of his or her body, may subsequently become unqualified due to death by accident or a major surgery or due to a post-mortem. These conditions the faculty or the Department of Anatomy will check at the time of acceptance of the body.