Enraged Thewaraperuma lashes out at wildlife officials

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Deputy Minister of Sustainable Development, Wildlife and Regional Development Palitha Thewarapperuma heavily criticized Wildlife officials for being unsuccessful in chasing away wild elephants from the Madunaagala area in Sooriyawewa. The Deputy Minister arrived in the area around 6 AM on Monday (July 9th) to chase away the wild elephants due to the constant threat posed to area residents. Although the Deputy Minister arrived to assist the area residents, wildlife officers were not present. Deputy Minister Palitha Thewarapperuma then went to the Hambantota wildlife office and inspected the attendance register of the officers. When a wildlife officer apologized for being late he stated that the people he should be apologizing to are the people who are attacked by the elephants and whose houses the elephants had damaged. The minister with his unique tone of voice and mannerisms instructed the wildlife officer not to misinterpret his intentions and words, stating that this is how he usually operates. Later on in the evening at around 7 pm, the Deputy Minister together with the Wildlife officers and area residents launched the operation. Despite a two hour long operation, the team was unsuccessful in chasing away the wild elephants. Frustrated by the failure of the operation and the fact that a wild elephant attacked his own vehicle, the Deputy Minister lashed out at the wildlife officers in front of the general public. His actions could be described as unstatesmanlike. Venting out his frustration with a smattering of slang Thewaraperuma claimed that there is a conspiracy at play here and accused the wildlife officers of not conducting their jobs properly as they were being influenced by large scale farm owners in the area. Watch video for more...