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battle against garbage As much as we know about her attempts to educate Sri Lankans about the urgent need for more environmentally conscious living, not much is known about her own story. Ajantha completed her higher studies in England and then aged 23 returned to Sri Lanka, because her parents felt it was time that she got married. She joined the University of Kelaniya as an Assistant Lecturer in Biochemistry, Physiology and Zoology and within a few months moved to the University of Colombo where she went into full time research on the effect of pesticides on ornamental fish. At the CISIR (ITI) environmental unit, she researched the eco location behaviour of bats. Ajantha met her husband Aruna at ITI. They married in 1986 and left for Germany within a few months – she on a scholarship for both her M.Sc and Ph.D under the German Academic Exchange Programme, and he for further studies in electrical engineering. Her first child, a son – Sanda Viraga – was born in 1990. "When I got pregnant, I found that he was a miracle baby-the doctors said it was only by chance that he remained in my womb. The doctors ordered me to have bed rest for seven months. This was right in the middle of my Ph.D and was the first challenge I faced in my life. I believe this experience gave me a chance to get to know the person inside." Once her Ph.D was completed, Ajantha was employed at the Water Authority of Munich. Even though she was employed under the permanent cadre, she chose to return to Sri Lanka and joined the University of Colombo once again in 1992 as Senior Lecturer-Environmental Sciences. Immediately afterwards, she left for the University of Tennessee, USA for a training programme on 'environmental impact assessment'. "When I came back and saw the garbage piles on the roadside and especially when I visited the dumpsites, I remember thinking why we couldn't be like the Germans or the English, where proper disposal of garbage is like a religion-it's so much a part of their life.” After nearly 17 years abroad, Ajantha travelled throughout the island trying to change the attitudes of people regarding waste disposal and creating awareness about alternative methods of using garbage. “On one occasion I had to speak in Sinhala, so I had to come up with a term for recycling, so I coined the term “prathi-chakree-karanaya”. Many confused it with "prathi-shakthi-karanaya" which means immunization," she says. "What I didn't know was that there were people who were jealous of the publicity I was getting. Some lecturers at the University of Colombo launched a campaign to create problems for me, as they were not pleased about my constant exposure in newspapers and TV." In 1996, Ajantha bid goodbye to her university career when her services were terminated, without any reason being given. "My husband told me to continue the recycling programmes because that's what caused this situation. So without leaving the country, I decided to stay.” Outspoken and determined, Ajantha is appreciative of the LTTE's assistance in the projects carried out so far in the north-east such as the World Environment Day done in affiliation with the Urban Council of Vavuniya. "This year, the LTTE said no polythene would be used for their functions, only cloth banners. They even have a separate environmental unit. In fact, the next programme I have in mind is to charge Rs. 50 from those who litter the streets (provision for this is available in our legal framework) and I hope to begin it in Jaffna. "We have the technology to manage the garbage problem. We know how to make bio-gas and compost, recycling, incinerators, and sanitary land filling-every major factor is here, even the universities and institutes teach the subject here. We have the expertise but since earning foreign exchange is a priority, everything is at a standstill. It is time the government got down to work,” says Ajantha. At present Ajantha is based at the Methodist Headquarters in Colombo 3 and is in charge of running a host of projects: children's and elders' homes, day care centres, nutrition feeding centres, vocational training centres, war-affected children's homes, refugee camps, war widows’ programmes, peace and reconciliation, relief and rehabilitation and consumer rights programmes. She is involved in a research project at Bloemendhal (where the largest garbage dump in Colombo is located) and hopes to elevate the lifestyle of the "rag pickers" she meets there. She is a part of a project to uplift the lives of fishermen having seen their plight first hand as a former Director-Housing of the 'Visira Nivasa' project. "People in this country are hurt financially, socially and also due to the war. This has to be changed. Development activities can't be handled by people sitting in Parliament – the general public has to be motivated into getting involved for true prosperity as a nation." Tackling
Dengue She plans to conduct a pilot project in the Maharagama Urban Council area by developing a model for the country on how the government, non-governmental organizations and charity organizations can get together to prevent the spread of this disease, through community participation. "Shramadana campaigns are not going to solve the problem. We cannot depend on carrying placards and shouting about it either. Through the model programme, we hope to conduct home compost competitions, and intensify the home recycling system (where three bags are given per household to separate waste items, a programme in operation since 1997/8) and also to have model schools within the area, which will be named 'environmentally-friendly schools'. “We want to encourage people to reduce waste as much as possible, even to the point of recycling yoghurt cups, ice-cream cups and even bottle lids," she says. |
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