CEA to take legal action against LGAs for not sorting waste

By Shanika Sriyananda

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is to take legal action against the Local Government Authorities (LGAs), which are handling garbage haphazardly without segregating biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste, a top officials of the CEA said.

Out of the total daily waste collection, which amounts to 8,000 metric tons, nearly 4,000 metric tons are biodegradable waste. “If the LGAs handle waste properly to separate biodegradable waste, we can reduce the garbage issue in the country by 50%,” CEA Solid Waste Management Unit Deputy Director General Eng. Upali Indraratne said.

He said that the majority of LGAs were not committed to segregating garbage, and also not encouraging residents to sort out their waste.

“The CEA has given them the technical know-how, mechanisms and facilities to handle biodegradable waste. The country doesn’t have space and ability to have sanitary landfills in all Local Government areas,” he said, during a media visit organised by the CEA to the ‘Green Park’ Sanitary Landfill and Integrated Waste Management Centre (SLIWMC) at Kirindiwela. The SLIWMC, which was jointly funded by the Korean International Cooperation Agency and the Sri Lankan Government ($4.5 million and $1.5 million respectively), accepts 30 tons of garbage collected daily from six LGAs; Gampaha Municipal Council, Dompe Pradeshiya Sabha, Biyagama Pradeshiya Sabha, Attanagalle Pradeshiya Sabha, Katana Pradeshiya Sabha and the Colombo Municipal Council.

“We can’t have landfills in each district, but will commence constructing sanitary landfills in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Galle and Jaffna districts before the end of this year,” Eng. Indraratne said, adding that the Colombo Municipal Council needs to find solutions through scientific means, like generating energy from waste, to solve the garbage problem in the Colombo district. Indraratne said that the CEA would take legal action against the five LGAs in Gampaha district and all LGAs in Batticaloa, for handling solid waste haphazardly even though they had been given the facilities and technology by the CEA in solid waste management.

He urged the LGAs to encourage the residents in their respective areas to segregate garbage to make compost from the 4,000 metric tons of biodegradables, which can produce 600 metric tons of compost daily.