Lanka News – Lanka Gazette – Sri Lanka News Portal

Disposal of solid waste has become one of the major environmental issues in Sri Lanka. The most common being open dumping of garbage. Dumping of garbage on the road sides and in prohibited areas such as wetlands, marshy lands is a common practice.

In view of the various environmental problems arising out of inadequate clearing of waste management services by the relevant agencies the need for a national approach to handle this serious matter was becoming important. Thus, the National Policy for Solid Waste Management was established under the purview of environmental authorities. Yet the attitude of some in waste disposal and the difficulties faced by the relevant local authorities remained. Finding suitable land was a perennial problem for the local authorities.

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At the beginning of this week the chill in the western world reached this tropical island with the news of the death of a 37-year-old Sri Lankan migrant found dead in Tuscany, Italy. AFP reported last Monday that “Temperatures fell to minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) in Milan on Monday as 59,000 households remained without electricity in Italy and officials declared a gas supply emergency.” Last week’s storm was the first heavy snowfall Rome has seen in 26 years, Reuters reported. Snow also kept falling in northern Italy, with temperatures dropping to minus 25 degrees on the shores of Lake Garda, according to the news reports.

Europe’s record freezing temperatures have claimed hundreds of lives, snarled traffic and trapped tens of thousands of residents in remote villages across Serbia and Romania.

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Maize harvest and cultivation in the backgroundDirector General Rear Admiral AnandaPeiris plucking maizeMaize processing machineCSD personnel bring sacks full of maizeCSD personnel peel maize making it ready for sale

It was during the war against terrorism that the people who were peasants were called upon to protect the motherland. They belonged to the Civil Security Department (CSD). They are now contributing their share to develop the country. They are toiling hard to cultivate thousands of acres of land in Anuradhapura, Ampara and Batticaloa districts. Most of them were farmers before they joined the CSD.

Today they are a happy lot because they have returned to their former livelihoods.

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CAIRN Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd. will launch its second phase of the oil exploration program after the successful completion of the first phase in the Mannar basin, block SL 2007-01-001.

It includes the acquisition processing and interpretation of 1753 sq. Km 3D seismic data and a three deep water drilling program.

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When a group of British tourists who wanted to visit Nuwara Eliya to see varieties of Sri Lankan flowers and foliage, they were taken by surprise when the local tour guide took them to a newly opened flower plant nursery in Battaramulla.

A member of the tour group who had earlier visited Nuwara Eliya on more than three occasions, realised that the guide had taken them to a flower nursery similar to the one which was at the Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo.

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The world needs to be reminded again. Sri Lanka was a victim of terrorism. The LTTE was an agent of terror and it was against LTTE terrorism that the Sri Lanka Armed Forces were fighting. If the West, the UN and all other “humanitarian” organisations wish to ignore the LTTE‘s spate of killings over three decades, so be it. Yet, when pressure is being exerted on a sovereign country completely ignoring punishing the LTTE for its acts of terror, the people of Sri Lanka will not remain silent.

Starting with the killing of the Jaffna Mayor in 1975, followed by killings of numerous Tamil policemen by the LTTE. To-date the LTTE has killed 24 Tamil academics and intellectuals, 54 Tamil Government officials and over 80 Tamils involved in some aspect of politics. This excludes the thousands of Tamil civilians that have been killed and maimed by the LTTE as punishments for defying LTTE orders. Is this the Tamil Eelam that was supposedly meant for Tamil people? Can Tamils who have witnessed these LTTE killings upon their own people not fear to live in a Tamil Eelam if it means death if they go against Tamil Eelam policy? So please answer ” why did the LTTE kill Tamils?

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The bus blown up by the LTTE with the injured cadre,Kandhayya Ravi as seen in the DVDSt. Mary’s Church

Although one is severely wounded or completely paralysed, one has the right to live until one breathes one’s last.

Unaware of the fate which would befall them within the next few minutes, several dozens of wounded Tigers, including forcibly conscripted children, brought from a makeshift medical facility in a Rosa bus, were helplessly gasping for life. Another group of Tigers, who were guarding another bus load of wounded youth a few metres away, was impatiently waiting for the final nod from their superior, to finish off their task.Their intention was to get rid of the ‘burden’ and also not to leave any room for the wounded to be interrogated in the event of their capture. While those who fought unwillingly to make the dream of their megalomaniac leader a reality were struggling to breathe, the Tigers hurriedly strapped explosives around the buses. In the next minute, everything disappeared under heavy black smoke, triggered by the thundering explosion.

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The Navam Maha Perahera, a colourful and bright pageant, which is held annually in February, displays the rich, religious and cultural tradition of Sri Lanka. Every year in February thousands of people mass the country’s metropolis as the streets of Colombo give way to a grand pageant that combines dance, culture and splendour.

This annual event is one of the most important religious and cultural events in the country. The heavily decorated elephants are the major attractions here with the parades and performances.

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Sri Lanka’s ancient kings left behind one of the world’s best irrigations systems to the country and the colonial rulers built a rail and road network and harbours, mainly focusing on the benefits they will gain.

After Independence, the then Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake redeveloped the irrigation system including the Gal Oya project while a few power generation projects too were carried out from time to time.

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Social responsibility and road discipline play a key role over traffic laws in avoiding road accidents, Consultant Automobile Engineer Lal Alawatte said minutes after the first fatal traffic accident was reported from the Galle-Colombo Expressway on Friday.

With vast experience in the field of motor engineering, Lal Alawatte was interviewed by Sunday Observer last week. The interview was prompted by the disturbing news that Sri Lanka recorded the highest number of road accidents within a period of 24 hours the previous Saturday. Seventeen people were killed in the 15 incidents reported that day.

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