Special Inquiry Into Ambuluwawa Cable Car Project

COLOMBO (News 1st); The government is considering appointing a special expert committee to conduct further investigations into the controversial Ambuluwawa cable car project, Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa announced.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet briefing, Dr. Jayatissa said several serious concerns had emerged regarding the approval process carried out by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) at the time the project was cleared.

According to him, the CEA had violated provisions of the National Environmental Act by failing to obtain public comments, denying citizens the opportunity to raise concerns over the project.

He further noted that mandatory newspaper notices were not published and that no Gazette notification was issued, bypassing key legal requirements.

Additionally, investigators have uncovered that the area surrounding the project site hosts numerous animal and plant species, including several endemic species, raising further environmental sensitivity. Despite this, the Department of Wildlife Conservation had not been consulted during the environmental evaluation process.

Dr. Jayatissa also revealed that instead of obtaining a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, authorities had relied only on a basic environmental study report, leaving out critical technical assessments.

“These issues, along with several other technical irregularities, have now come to light,” he said. “Based on these findings, the Ministry has proposed the appointment of a special expert committee to carry out further investigations.”

He added that the names of the proposed committee members have not yet been submitted, and the next step will be to finalise the committee, after which it will be tasked with producing a detailed report.