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The National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC), set up as a joint initiative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Small and Medium Enterprise Developers (SMED), was launched in Sri Lanka last week.

This, according to NCPC Chairman Nihal Abeysekera, is one of many steps that they would be taking to promote cleaner production concepts in Sri Lanka. "Cleaning the environment after polluting it is no longer an option. The concept of cleaner production was introduced here four years ago," he said.

Ambassador for Norway in Sri Lanka Jon Westborg said the Norwegian government is involved in the project through UNIDO. "Unemployment is one of the reasons for the violence which we have seen in Sri Lanka. So we are working towards alleviating those reasons as well. What is needed for Sri Lanka is sustainable peace," he said.

Minister of Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy, Investment Promotion and Constitutional Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris reiterated what the Ambassador said and added that Sri Lanka needs durable, long-lasting peace and not just peace for the moment.

He said that industry is the way forward to provide employment, improve living conditions and develop the economy. "No grandiose schemes are needed to achieve these objectives. Our Ministry has advocated small projects which are modest in planning, investment and execution. The NCPC is one such project," he said.

The NCPC is also linked to a global network of cleaner production centres including those in countries such as China and Brazil. The SMED has provided the infrastructure for the project.

The main goals of this office will be creating awareness and taking the message of cleaner production (CP) to as many industries as possible, providing professional consultancy and advisory services to industries, training industrial personnel in launching and conducting CP assessments in industries and training university personnel to include CP in their curricula, keeping an up-to-date information base on CP and providing relevant and appropriate information, assistance in promoting access to financing for CP projects and providing appropriate inputs and interventions to policy formulators and enabling them to effectively introduce CP in industrial and environmental policies. (IT) 

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