Sri Lanka: Highway Construction Threatens the Livelihood of around 20,000 people in 170 villages in Sri Lanka

Since 1999 the Government of Sri Lanka with the support of ADB (Asian Development Bank) and JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation) has been implementing ”The Southern Transport Development Project”, to develop and build a limited access expressway linking the outskirts of the capital, Colombo, to Matara in the south. The planned highway will pass through villages and the adjacent agricultural areas, including coconut, tea and rubber estates. Many houses and around 1000 hectares of agricultural land will be destroyed. The villagers are presently working as labourers in the paddy fields and estates and are also growing food in their own plot of land. With the construction of the highway the villagers will lose their ability to feed themselves due to loss of land and work. They will also lose their access to safe drinking water.

International action is urgently needed to put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to change the plan of the project and provide fair and just compensation. So far no proper compensation has been given to the families already displaced. Please write polite letters to Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and to the President of Sri Lanka to ensure that the Right to Food and the Right to Water are respected and protectedand protected