News
We take 100 percent responsibility for landfill: Ministry
The Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development this week insisted that it would take “100 percent responsibility” for the Aruwakkalu sanitary landfill project.
Addressing a media briefing, the Ministry’s Social Specialist Nihal Premathilaka observed that the country’s garbage problem had been in existence for 40 years. “Every time authorities tried to resolve this issue scientifically, they were thwarted by the familiar slogan of, ‘We don’t want Colombo’s garbage.’ This resulted in garbage mountains coming up in Bloemendal and Meethotamulla. In the end, 32 lives were lost.”
Mr Premathilaka blamed the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) for not making a serious effort towards resolving the garbage issue. “This was what prompted the ministry to take charge and find a solution. Yet, the CMC has not done anything to brief the people on the importance of this sanitary landfill project. They should be at the forefront of defending this project and dispelling misconceptions, but they have not done so and we have seen the results of such inaction during the past few weeks,” he stressed.
“Many people are alleging that garbage has been dumped in the lagoon, that groundwater is being polluted and that the fisheries industry there will collapse. There is no truth to any of that. The project has been built according to modern scientific standards and we will take 100 percent responsibility for it,” Mr Premathilaka added.