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| Sunday, 1 September 2002 |
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Rukman's speech at Johannesburg meet : Scarcity of funds, obstacle to development "Social and economic policies should take into account and the implications of projected demographic trends and basic needs should be provided to all citizens by the year 2010, said the Sri Lanka report presented at the Johannesburg Summit". Environment and Natural Resource Minister Rukman Senanayake presented the Sri Lanka's national report to the World Summit on Sustainable Development titled "Sri Lanka's Middle Path to Sustainable Development in the 21 Century". The summit is being held in Johannesburg-South Africa. Report making reference to ethnic conflict said that the ethnic strife was a major obstacle faced in proceeding with the sustainable development program." The ethnic conflict in the North and the East has been a major obstacle to sustainable development. A peaceful settlement will create a stable environment for investment and infrastructure development", said the report. The report while stating that Sri Lanka has made every effort to meet its commitments to the international community under the Rio declaration points to the fact that "scarcity of funds to finance sustainable development activities has been a major constraint" and added saying that it was due to the current economic situation of the country. This document presented to the Summit meeting had two major objectives: a) providing a status report to the WSSD on progress made on sustainable development in Sri Lanka since 1992; b) pointing to the way forward, to serve as a future guide for decision makers in Sri Lanka. "Sri Lankan vision of sustainable development is an advanced, prosperous, equitable, peaceful and healthy nation that will be durable and resilient. We are working towards a people friendly and open economic system, which is based on democratic and pluralistic institutions, able to protect our unique values and heritage, and build on respect for freedom and human rights", the report said. The report deals with National Sustainable Development Strategy, Governance, Social and Economic Development, Population, Poverty, Agriculture and several other aspects of development under sub-headings. The report further said that "the Government of Sri Lanka believes that, to achieve global sustainable development the world summit should recognise the importance of good governance, peace security political and macro economic stability as prerequisites for sustainable development and that there should be ` a level playing field for both developed and developing countries' and it is the obligation of the developed countries to build the capacity of developing countries in international treaty negotiations. The report has also identified poverty, environment degradation and ongoing internal conflict as three major critical inter-linked national issues that have affected the country. |
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