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Friday Nov 08, 2024
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Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith
Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has stated that if the ecosystem is protected, the country’s water resources will become a major source of income for the country in the future, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday.
The Cardinal stated this when addressing Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who paid a courtesy call at his official residence on Tuesday to offer greetings to the Cardinal for the Christmas season.
“Our country is being deforested on a large scale by now. It has to stop and the Government should take necessary steps to formulate a program to protect forests in accordance with the Constitution itself. Laws should be enacted to severely punish those who destroy the flora in this country. If the ecosystem of the country could be protected by doing so, our water resources would be in great demand in future world water shortages,” the Cardinal said.
Commenting on this, the Minister said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s program was dedicated to rescue cities from being oxygen deficient and that environment friendly activities were included in the village-by-village development program. Member of Parliament Yadamini Gunawardena was also present on this occasion.