Closure of Manampitiya sand project:

Illegal sand miners have field day

Nimal Wijesinghe - Anuradhapura Additional District group correspondent

The State owned Manampitiya Mahaweli Sand Mining Project closure has put the Colombo sand market in an unstable position.

Since the stoppage of sand mining and selling at the Manampitiya sand mining site administered and managed by the Geological Serveys and Mines Bureau (GSMB), the flow of nearly 300 trucks and lorries transporting 900 cubes of river sand from Manampitiya to Colombo has come to a halt for nearly one month.

Environmental Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa last month instructed the GSMB to close the Manampitiya Project owing to criticism on the project by district political authority at the North Central Province progress review meeting held at Polonnaruwa chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The sudden closure of the site resulted in nearly 1500 persons losing their daily livelihood. This includes miners, lorry drivers and labourers.

The lorry owners who entirely depended on sand sales to settle the monthly lease installments on their vehicles have been hard hit.

It is learnt that a cube of river sand which was sold at Rs 6000-7000 earlier has shot up to Rs 9000 to 10,000 in the sand market due to the non-arrival of Manampitiya Mahaweli river sand. The Manampitiya sand is considered to be of high in quality by the constructors. In the meantime a group of illegal sand miners have exploited the situation by mining sand at Manampitiya site using back-hoes without being interfered by the law enforcement agencies. They have created a serious environmental hazard to the river and the adjoining forest.

Minister Maithreepala Sirisena has convened a special meeting on November 4 at Polonnaruwa to discuss the issue.