Geneva, SWITZERLAND – The first thing that one notices when getting onto the streets of Geneva is the cosmopolitan nature of the city. There is an equal number of restaurants catering to both the tastes of foreigners and local cuisine – such is the breadth of diversity that this relatively small town brings.

There is music, culture, art, bars, restaurants and museums in addition to the natural beauty, picture post-card perfect lakes and surrounding snow-capped mountains. In mid-April with spring in the air, the weather could change rapidly to being chilly and cold or being pleasant and warm during the day. What is however strikingly attractive about this city, during our recent visit, was that as spring sets in the flowers have begun to bloom in parks, sidewalks and the vast expanse of gardens of international organisations.

There are many other factors that make Geneva an extremely pleasant and attractive city to live in. For example drinking water straight from your tap! Try doing that back home, in Sri Lanka!

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 Is Sri Lanka turning into a coffee-drinking nation from traditional tea-drinking? Pundits in the industry and some state officials seem to think so. Hence a new campaign to promote tea locally with the setting up of a chain of tea shops to promote the local drinking habit.

One of the arguments being trotted out is that tea industry authorities are worried about the proliferation of coffee cafes and the increasing consumption of coffee at funeral houses.

Is this an accurate assessment of beverage consumption trends in Sri Lanka or is this a Colombo-centric view?

While coffee houses are essentially in Colombo and the suburbs and rarely frequently by the ‘working’ class, ‘Nescafe’ is also not the drink of choice in funeral houses in rural homes.

If so are the authorities getting their ‘knickers in a twist’ and using funds from a promotional levy that was originally intended for the promotion of Ceylon Tea overseas?

According to the latest 2012 data, Sri Lanka produced 326.3 million kg of tea last year of which 319.9 million (320 million) was exported with six million being consumed locally. Four years ago in 2008, tea production was 318.7 million kg while exports, curiously, was more at 319.6 million kg, according to Central Bank data. This proves that consumption has increased in recent years while exports have remained unchanged. How does one explain local consumption trends in the 2008 data which reveals that all that Sri Lanka produced was exported? Two reasons (though this is not the focus of today’s column); Export figures could include carry-forward contracts while a large quantity of rubbishy and good tea sold in the ‘unofficial market’ is not captured in the official data. Hence the discrepancy in statistics which could also mean Sri Lankans must be consuming more than the 6 million kg reported in 2012.

Furthermore in the past decade, the tea industry has been more innovative and local brands like Dilmah and Mlesna have thrived in local markets after initial focus on branding and sales abroad.

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President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as Minister of Finance, and Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B.J. Jayasundera received the most number of ‘votes’ during a Business Times (BT) poll which asked: “Who is responsible for deciding the electricity price hike?”

Four names were given – a) the President, b) Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, c) former Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka and d) Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B Jayasundera, and respondents asked to make their choice.

The results of the email poll showed that 39 per cent of those polled said the President was responsible, 18.8 per cent said Dr Jayasundera should take responsibility while another 12.5 per cent (A+D) held the President and Dr Jayasundera, as jointly accountable. The Power Minister received 7.8 per cent while 11 per cent of the respondents said ‘all’ the four were responsible. The former Power Minister didn’t get a single ‘vote’ except for coming under the category of ‘all’.

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Sri Lanka is probably one of the few countries where people do not compost the garbage. Recently it was reported that the US Ambassador collected garbage in the Galle Face green!

On a daily basis, thousands of tons of leaves are collected and burned from Colombo city road. What a colossal waste of materials that can be used to grow something.

This article deals with a suggestion on how the local authorities such as Municipalities, Urban Councils, Pradeshiya Sabas, etc, can get the co-operation of the housewives to sort out the garbage at home, before giving it to the garbage collectors.

Usually, all garbage items are put into one bag and given to the garbage collecting truck to be taken and dumped in a faraway public place, which fills some unwanted land or a waste land. This garbage dumping area stinks and ruins the environment and causes many health hazards for the poor people who live close to these garbage dumping areas. All the environmental problems we face are man-made problems. In this modern era where modern technologies are tried and tested, it is a shame for our city fathers to not solve this problem in a fruitful way.

More than 85 per cent of the garbage articles are vegetable in origin and they are biologically compostable. The 85 per cent of compostable matter are organic in nature.

This article deals with a suggestion on how the local authorities such as Municipalities, Urban Councils, Pradeshiya Sabas, etc, can get the co-operation of the housewives to sort out the garbage at home, before giving it to the garbage collectors.

Usually, all garbage items are put into one bag and given to the garbage collecting truck to be taken and dumped in a faraway public place, which fills some unwanted land or a waste land. This garbage dumping area stinks and ruins the environment and causes many health hazards for the poor people who live close to these garbage dumping areas. All the environmental problems we face are man-made problems. In this modern era where modern technologies are tried and tested, it is a shame for our city fathers to not solve this problem in a fruitful way. More than 85 per cent of the garbage articles are vegetable in origin and they are biologically compostable. The 85 per cent of compostable matter are organic in nature.

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