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CA grants leave to proceed with petition challenging controversial road expansion through the Sinharaja Forest Reserve under Gotabaya Presidency
The Island
|June 21, 2025
The Court of Appeal yesterday (20) granted leave to proceed with a petition challenging the controversial road expansion through the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, a UNESCO-designated protected area, during the tenure of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The petition, filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice and its Executive Director Hemantha Withanage, argues that a narrow 8-foot-wide road was being illegally widened to 15 feet under the direct intervention of the former President, allegedly to provide easier access to tourist hotels and lodges said to be linked to politicians and their associates in the region.
This story is from the June 21, 2025 edition of The Island.
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