State Minister Sanath Nishantha Perera ridiculed the Wildlife official who resisted his attempts to obtain a wildlife land for the construction of a playground.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, Nishantha said, "The official wants to be the Asian Champion in terms of mangrove cover. She is working towards that."

Perera also said the officials are in a position to resist orders from political authorities as they have been empowered by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

However, the State Minister did not apologize to the official nor did he appreciate her commitment to work at the press conference.

Devani Jayathilleke, a Wildlife officer in Gampaha, took a bold stance at a district committee meeting yesterday when she refused to release a wildlife land for the construction of a playground.

The meeting was chaired by State Minister Sanath Nisnatha Perera and was attended by several other political authorities in the area.

The State Minister told the wildlife official that people had no place to live due to wildlife and coastal conservation regulations.

At that point, the official said she was not in a position to accommodate any request in violation of environmental regulations.

She also said the forest cover in the area remained at an abysmally low level and if it decreased further people would not have sufficient oxygen levels to breathe.