Prez not to prioritise construction of new diesel, coal power plants: Amaraweera

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided not to give priority to the construction of new diesel and coal power plants in our country again.

Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that the President told at the Cabinet meeting in this regard.

"The President has pledged to support the programme implemented by international organizations to protect our country's environment as well as to control global warming. Accordingly, it is planned to obtain 70% of our country's electricity from renewable energy by 2030. Under this project, the President has decided not to give priority to the construction of diesel and coal power plants in our country, "he said.

We will implement future projects to generate electricity from wind power, LNG, hydropower as well as solar energy. His international support for global warming as well as for saving our planet has been recognized internationally. But many in our country are not aware of the vision he has today, he said.

There is no other leader who has been as active as the President in protecting our environment. In the past, those who caused damage to the environment and the destruction of the forest were arrested regardless of rank. The Special Task Force, the Civil Defence Force as well as the Sri Lanka Police were deployed to arrest and raid them. Moreover, cases have been filed against them. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)