Chief Incumbent of the Malwatte Chapter Most Ven. Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera pointed out that illegal forest destruction of wealthy and people, who wield power, to commence mega scale commercial projects, is among the major causes for natural disasters.
"The law of the country must be exercised and applied equally to all and no one is above the law. However, the law of the country is applied more on the helpless poor people than the powerful and wealthy people," the Mahanayake thera said.
Sumangala Thera made these remarks when International Trade State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe met the Thera at the Malwatta Maha Viharaya on Saturday.
The Thera pointed out that the law of the country should be exercised properly against persons responsible for environment pollution including forest destruction. The Thera added that the Government should draw its attention on upgrade the existing laws of the country so as to meet the present-day requirements.
The Thera noted that the people are not afraid of committing environment pollution since the existing laws of environment pollution are not exercised properly and moreover these laws are outdated.