Sri Lanka at International Water Association World Congress

• Colombo to host IWA Congress & Exhibition in August next year

Sri Lanka recently participated in the International Water Association (IWA) World Congress 2018 in Tokyo. Following is the speech made by State Minister of City Planning and Water Lucky Jayawardana at the event

It gives me great pleasure to extend warm greetings on behalf of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of City Planning and Water Supply to all participants of IWA World Congress – 2018 in Tokyo. I take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to the International Water Association (IWA) who accepted our proposal to host IWA Congress & Exhibition in August 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka which is a great honour to our motherland.

As you all know, water plays a central and a vital role in all aspects of life. Water makes up more than two-thirds of human body weight, and without water, life forms cannot survive more than few days.

Currently nearly one billion people lack access to safe water and over 2.7 billion lack access to basic sanitation. Unfortunately around 3.5 million people die each year from water related diseases. Diarrhoea kills 4,100 children every day or 1.8 million children a year, 90% of whom are under five years of age. Every year, 443 million school days are lost due to diarrhoea and water-related illnesses. 

Water pollution makes this situation worse and increases the scarcity of clean water enhancing the water crisis. The main source of freshwater pollution can be attributed to discharge of untreated waste, dumping of industrial effluent, run-off from agricultural fields and direct discharge of solid waste to water bodies. Rivers, aquifers, tanks, lakes and other natural water sources are getting polluted day by day. Industrial growth, urbanisation and the increasing use of synthetic organic substances have serious and adverse impacts on freshwater bodies. 

Improper management of water resources is the key contributing factor towards deteriorating water resources and the resulting health implications. Freshwater resources all over the world are threatened by over exploitation and poor management. The root causes of much of this is over utilisation and degradation of freshwater ecosystems which stem primarily from failures in governance, inadequate policies and legislation, poor enforcement, weak institutions and insufficient participation of the civil societies. 

The issue of water and health is not limited to a country or a region and it is a global concern and a responsibility of the entire world. Integrated water resources management is one of the key approaches towards effective and optimum management and utilisation of this threatened and precious resource. Innovative solutions and appropriate technologies shall be adapted to overcome the funding constraints and limitations. 

Widely-accepted water safety plans shall be implemented which could reach more people in order to derive more health benefits. Access to safe water and sanitation is considered as one of the basic human rights. We all should work in harmony respecting this human right by ensuring the quantity, quality, availability, accessibility and affordability of drinking water and sanitation facilities for all. 

In this background we believe that holding the IWA Congress and exhibition next year in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Ministry of City Planning and Water Supply is most appropriate and timely endeavour. The proposed conference next year will give us an opportunity to showcase the important work currently being undertaken in Sri Lanka in water and wastewater fields. Furthermore the conference would attract high-level representatives from the water sector, funding institutions, regulators, operators and specialised companies involved in the sector. 

By providing learning and international networking opportunities, the IWA Congress in August next year would benefit the professional development of Sri Lankan water and environmental professionals, engineers, chemists, regulators, and policy makers. 

It will provide Sri Lankan institution an opportunity to negotiate with international partners, and could create potential business opportunities. The event will also give exposure to young professionals, as well as provide training which will enhance their capacity. 

The NWSDB conducts a research and development symposium every year along with the World Water Day events held in March. As we are now planning to conduct IWA Congress and an exhibition in August next year we are planning to hold the research and development symposium of NWSDB as a side event of the Congress. With this we are planning to enhance the quality and standard our R&D symposium. It will also give an opportunity for the NWSDB professionals to expand their horizons by taking part in R&D symposium which now going to be a part of IWA conference.

The conference will also include an industrial exhibition with over 100 stalls for the local industries and partners to promote their business with the both local and foreign participants which will help the local industry to secure more business. Hence, I would be very much delighted to invite all the participants of this conference to keep the days free in August 2019 to join us to witness and share the success of the event.

It is expected that many people attending the event will make use of this opportunity to visit some interesting plans in our beautiful island, Sri Lanka along with the event. We are pretty sure that all of you will bring back good memories of Sri Lanka and be ambassadors to strengthen our international relations.

Moreover, the prime objectives of next year’s conference is to set agendas on water and sustainable development and to develop a platform for development of sector policies, good practices, and appropriate technologies to manage burning water related issues.

As I explain earlier the most contemporary issue and challenge faced by us is the water resources constraints and integrated water management challenges. We have already adapted the desalination option and developed dedicated storage reservoirs for drinking water purposes. In this contest we would like to suggest that the theme of the next year IWA conference Sri Lanka shall be in line with water resource allocation, sharing, reservation and integrated management.

Further, I will take this opportunity to wish all of you to have a very productive and interactive conference and bring back good memories to your own countries to serve the people, enhance their living standard and quality of life. I wish you all the best and good luck for the IWA World Conference!