Use our own strategies to resolve challenges: MR

15 November 2011 07:43 am

We must use our own strategies to resolve our challenges whether they are terrorism separatism or environmental issues and must not rely on imported theories and ideologies, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

Addressing the main ceremony of the ‘National Tree Planting Programme’ at the Rajamalwatta Ground in Battaramulla today, President Rajapaksa stressed that Sri Lanka possesses age old traditions, cultural and religious values capable of resolving any of our problems.

“We are a nation that loves the environment and protects our fauna and flora. Giving protection to the environment and maintaining the natural habitat is an important part of our culture, religion and has been our way of life for centuries. No one has the right to claim to be a son or a daughter of the soil if he or she has failed to plant a tree,” President Rajapaksa emphasised.  

“The National Tree Planting Programme is a service aimed at the future generation of Sri Lanka. The 1.1 million trees to be planted today is a sustainable protection to the natural habitat of the country. If the present generation enjoys the benefits of the actions taken by our ancestors to protect the environment, it is our duty to act in the same way for the benefits or the future generation.” he said. (Sandun A. Jayasekera)