With so many ministers in Parliament and in the Provincial Councils appointed to look after the environment, it is surprising that the garbage problem in the Western Province and other parts of the country has not yet been solved. Is clearing the mountains of garbage and doing something about the huge unhealthy garbage dumps a bigger challenge than the Mahaweli Projcet, or the Southern Development or Moragahakanda projects?
These ministers for the environment travel widely, visiting different countries for conferences and seminars. Have they not seen how garbage is managed in big cities such as Tokyo, London, Bangkok or New York? Did they see in those cities garbage dumps like ours? Did they not stop to wonder how these countries managed their garbage?
While our Minister for the Environment worries about the consequences of global warning, he completely ignores the garbage problem in his own backyard, so to speak. He has launched at least 10 environmental projects, but has done little or nothing to address the mounting garbage problem.The Environment Ministry is collecting large sums of money in the name of recycling mobile phones. The G8 countries that met recently failed to agree on a programme to reduce carbon emissions. These countries are in the state they are because they failed to deal with environment degradation.
Our ministers also say they do not want Western interference. The US and other developed countries pollute the world with emissions from vehicles. Our emissions pollution record is negligible. But our Minister of Environment is ready to test our vehicle emissions and cause extra cost to vehicle owners. The Rs. 1,000 paid for a certificate of compliance is a way to tax vehicle owners further.
I call on the government to appoint a minister for garbage and send him on a world tour that would inspire him to come back with a proposal to solve our garbage problem.
Professor Rohan Edirisinghe,
Kalubowila |
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