Fire destroys 35 acres of forest land
Around 35 acres of forest was destroyed on Saturday in a fire that erupted in the protected areas of the Castlereagh reservoir and Devon Falls. Police suspect that the fire has been deliberately caused
Daily News (Sri Lanka)
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Minister laments dearth of wildlife officials
The dearth of wildlife officials has been a major drawback in enforcing wildlife regulations, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said. There are only 3,000 odd wildlife officials to serve nearly one million hectares of forest in the country. The elephant population in Sri Lanka did not face any threat of extinction as its density has been increasing in recent times, he said. Steps have been taken to erect electrified fences under the Maga Neguma to ward off marauding elephants in an effort to eradicate the elephant-human conflict, the Minister said.
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Elephant orphanage hopes for jumbo success
Sri Lanka has been rescuing orphaned baby elephants for more than 35 years with state help, and the transit home is part of a drive to save the island's endangered elephant species. However, after years of being bottle-fed formula milk, eight orphaned baby elephants appear reluctant to leave their temporary home, but mahouts heave-ho them onto trucks for a journey back to the wild. The elephants are enticed with milk and coconut palm to climb the ramps into the trucks - the time has come to leave Sri Lanka's Elephant Transit Home.
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Rural road upgrading programme
Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon has taken steps to provide road reforms in four Pradeshiya Sabha areas in the Anuradhapura District. Rural roads which are in a bad condition in the Pradeshiya Saba areas of Medavachchiya, Kahatagasdigiliya, Talawa and Nochchiyagama are to be underground fast reconstruction. These rural roads are reconstructed by the World Bank Funded Local Government Infrastructure Development Project.
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Japan donates US$4.6 M food aid
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Sri Lanka welcomed a donation of US$4.6 million worth of rice and canned fish from Japan. The food will be used to feed 275,000 school children and 350,000 displaced and conflict-affected persons for three months in the most neglected areas of Sri Lanka.
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Fuel emission testing from today
The vehicle emission testing programme, aimed at regulating the amount of fuel fumes released to the air by vehicles will be implemented from today. The programme, designed by the Environmental and Natural Resources Ministry in collaboration with the Transport Ministry, will be launched today with the opening of the first two emission testing centres at Kiribathgoda and Miriswatta junction on the Colombo-Kandy highway.
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SAARC forms body for poverty alleviation
The SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and SAARC Law have principally agreed to form a joint association of professionals in South Asia with an objective of improving transparency, accountability and governance leading to poverty alleviation. According to a press release Saturday, leading businessmen and the representatives of SAFA and SAARC Law proposed for the formation of joint association of professionals. It would be presented before the executive committee meeting of SCCI for final approval, president SCCI Tariq Sayeed said.
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Hayleys goes for wind power farm
In its continued effort to produce " green energy' non dependent on fossilised imported oil, Hayleys Group is currently building a wind power farm on the Western coast of Sri Lanka, the company has announced. The company's energy sector chief Mervyn de Silva said, a 10 MW wind power plant is being built at Nirmalapura at Kalpitiya in the Puttalam district to augment Hayleys' already existing green energy power generating plants like the hydropower stations.
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Financial assistance for flood victims
Plans are afoot to grant financial assistance for flood victims in Kalutara District to renovate their houses which were damaged due to the recent territorial rains, Construction and Engineering Services Minister Rajitha Senaratne told the Daily News. He said Rs. 100,000 and technical guidance will be granted to each beneficiary family to carry out renovation activities.
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USAID provides safe water to Ampara community
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the international relief organisation AmeriCares to fund the completion of a Water Distribution Network for the Ulla community in Ampara district, on Tuesday. The project will serve 2,400 inhabitants in the Arugam Bay area by distributing clean and safe drinking water directly to the people, a USAID release said. The wells serving this community were mostly open, which had been overtopped and polluted by the tsunami.
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Lanka must focus on maximising production in agriculture sector - Dr. Amunugama
Sri Lanka must focus on maximising its production in the agriculture sector without following absurd recommendations of western advisors, Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said. Addressing a conference at the New Town Hall, Colombo, to mark the 97th birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake, the Minister said we must not have faith in instructions given by foreigners calling for the import of rice to the country and filling in paddy fields.