President says environmental laws ignored due to selfish commercial interests

Despite having sufficient laws and regulations related to environment preservation in development process, people act in contrary to them to fulfill their petty commercial interests and selfish private needs, said President Maithripala Sirisena.

He went on to say that when the attention of the entire world is on environmental preservation, everybody should act to protect the environment considering it not as a responsibility but as a human duty.

President Sirisena made these remarks delivering the keynote address at the National Green Awards Ceremony held on Monday (5) at the BMICH.

“Environmental preservation is a critical factor for the existence of all the beings. Hence, everybody should act together preventing any harm done to the environment irrespective of the economic benefits,” he added.

The President pointed out that Sri Lanka has failed to find solutions to the problems of solid waste and garbage up-to-date due to the lack of institutional coordination. 

He further said that the new Government is expected to find a solution to these issues through a joint program with coordination of all the institutions.

The National Green Awards Ceremony commended and recognised environmental friendly citizens.

The National Green Awards were given for several categories and awardees were selected by a distinguished panel of judges. Winners were selected under Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit categories according to their performance shown in green initiatives.

President Sirisena symbolically handed over awards to few recipients. Mahaweli and Environment Deputy Minister Anuradha Jayaratne, Mahaweli and Environment Ministry Secretary Udaya R. Seneviratne, Defence Ministry Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi, Central Environmental Authority Chairman Lal Mervin Dharmasiri and others participated in the event.