He made these observations at a special meeting held with regard to national environmental conservation program on Tuesday (July 21) at the Presidential Secretariat.

The President pointed out that the garbage disposal system is a major hazard to the health of the people. He said it cannot be postponed and a solution has to be found for this through an efficient and proper program.

However much the government tries to solve this problem, we can’t stop  people criticizing this. Every officer should be dedicated to fulfill the government’s responsibility, by educating people in this regard, the President said.

The program should be implemented in collaboration with all the State and Private institutions. The President instructed the officials to strengthen existing programs implemented by the Central Environmental Authority and to make plans with practical knowledge and new strategies.

The most affected by the garbage disposal problem are the people living in the city of Colombo and the suburbs of Colombo.  Therefore, priority should be given to solve problems of these people, the President added.

Also special attention was drawn to coastal protection and forest density during the meeting.

The President has identified the importance of environment conservation program. Steps are being taken by the government, under the President’s instructions to make an action plan for an environment conservation program which can practically be carried out, by identifying current environmental issues.

Deforestation, environmental damage, Environmental degradation, Natural Resource Damage, soil erosion has been identified as the major environmental issues at present. Solutions will be found to these problems through this proposed new plan.

Today, Sri Lanka's forest coverage is 29%, the proposed project is expected to increase the forest coverage to 35% within the first few years.

About 7,500 tons of waste is produced in Sri Lanka for a day, of which nearly 1,000 tons of garbage is processed for waste management. The remaining 6,500 tons of garbage is expected to manage systematically using the new technology.