UDA says fee for collecting garbage worth a try

21 April 2017 08:39 am

A fee being levied from the people by the relevant local government (LG) bodies for the collection of their garbage might bring about a positive change in attitude among the population, Chairman of the Urban Development Authority (UDA) Dr. Jagath Munasinghe said today.

When asked by Daily Mirror, whether the UDA was planning to make a proposal to impose a fee for collecting garbage from each household, Dr. Munasinghe said it was up to the LG bodies to make a decision in this regard.

“It’s the Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas which possess the legal authority to collect taxes. If households are to be charged for collecting garbage, these bodies should make a decision. However, we can and will help them if they decide to implement such a move,” he said.

LG bodies which are struggling in terms of revenue could make use of the funds collected by imposing such a charge, Dr. Munasinghe said.

He said with the increase of GDP, consumption also increases. “This is an issue in developing countries like ours. When the GDP increases, consumption increases as well. Therefore, a charge is not an unfair move,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)