Environmentalist Devani Jayathilaka Malima has alleged that she has been treated unfairly by the government, claiming that promotions and appointments within the Forest Department have been made in violation of seniority. She shared these concerns in a detailed post published on her Facebook page.
In her post, she states that positions such as Zonal Deputy Forest Conservator were traditionally awarded based on seniority. However, she claims this practice changed after Mr. Mohan was transferred from the Northern Region to the Head Office, allegedly due to his sharing of a statement made by Anura Kumara before he became President. She further states that she believes she may have been affected by this change as she was next in line according to seniority.
According to her statement, from that point until 1 January 2026, several Zonal Offices were managed by officers who were junior to her. She alleges that these officers managed zones on a case-by-case basis and supervised themselves, leading to administrative irregularities. She also notes that during this period, retired Assistant Conservator of Forests Mr. Wijepala was assigned responsibility for a zone, despite the presence of Deputy Conservator of Forests Praneeth and herself.
She states that she raised objections on multiple occasions, pointing out that these actions were unfair, but claims no corrective action was taken.
Jayathilaka further states that she applied for annual transfers this time, believing that once temporary charge-based appointments were removed, the relevant posts would be allocated fairly. However, she claims that she was not given a post. She says she submitted an appeal, which was also rejected. Despite this, she states that she expected all officers to be assigned posts simultaneously.
She alleges that by 29 December 2025, posts had been assigned to others, excluding herself, despite her being the most senior officer.
She further claims that by assigning a post to retired Mr. Wijepala, a precedent that disregarded seniority was established, and that subsequently the post was again assigned to Mr. Wijeratne, who she notes is second in seniority among Assistant Conservators of Forests. She states that she has shared two seniority documents dated 1 January 2026 in support of her claim.
Raising a question in her post, she asks whether a position given to someone without holding a post can be transferred to another person who also does not hold a post, and questions whether the injustice she experienced should also be recognized as unfair treatment.
She also states that she requested to be assigned to the Northern Region, instead of the North Western and South Sabaragamuwa regions she had applied for, arguing that the other officer was not eligible. She claims this request was also not granted.
Concluding her post, Jayathilaka states that although writing about the matter may not change the situation, she hopes that such injustices will not be inflicted on others in the future.
In a postscript, she remarks that if positions were awarded based on injustice, she would have been promoted to the rank of General by now, stating that she worked under officers junior to her during the periods 2012–2015, 2016, and 2017. She further claims that she experienced mental distress during those years due to their actions.
