New regulations to tighten protective measures: Dr. Anil J

A new set of regulations would be introduced through the Vote on Account (VOA) to be presented next month, to further tighten protective measures of the environment, Secretary of the Environment Ministry, Dr. Anil Jasinghe said yesterday.

A team of experts representing Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) the Central Environment Authority (CEA) and 16 other sections of the Environment Ministry was in the process of drafting the new regulations to be incorporated in the VOA, he said.

“Though the environment and development clash with each other in many instances, both have to be necessarily sustainable. Therefore, it is up to the policy makers and law makers to bring the required legal framework to ensure that environment protection and sustainable development go hand in hand,” Dr. Jasinghe said.

One of the tricky issues in Sri Lanka that make the protection of environment challenging was the use of non perishable vessels and containers in the food processing industry where plastic is heavily used. Many other countries in the world, UK, EU, Japan, India and almost all developed countries use bio-perishable cups and containers. In Sri Lanka, discarded non perishable containers not only pollute the environment, but contribute to spread vector borne diseases like dengue, filaria, chikungunya etc., Dr. Jasinghe told Daily Mirror.

“Our attempt is to make these two extremely vital sectors of the country sustainable and not clash with each other in their separate functions,” he added. (Sandun A. Jayasekera)