Mannar Island communities face ecological disaster from Wind Power projects - Sajeewa Chamikara

Environmental activist Sajeewa Chamikara has warned that the wind power development projects, being rolled out on Mannar Island, pose an unprecedented threat to both the island’s human population and its fragile ecosystem.

- BY IFHAM NIZAM

Chamikara, representing the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform, said that plans, jointly prepared by the Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), have been designed with the sole aim of generating electricity, neglecting the social and environmental realities of Mannar.

“Our studies clearly show that the ADB’s and SEA’s plans for Mannar are focused purely on energy output. They pay no attention to the livelihood and future of island residents or the island’s complex biodiversity and land-use systems,” Chamikara told The Island.

He said the ADB’s research reports were prepared with the primary goal of facilitating private sector investment, rather than ensuring a just transition to renewable energy as required under the Paris Agreement, to which Sri Lanka is a party.