Protecting the coastline of Matara

A special project has been launched by the Coast Conservation Department to construct protective dams which would minimise sea erosion and environment pollution along the coastline of Matara.

The Department has allocated Rs. 35 million for the project which would see a 260-metre protective dam being constructed on the Weligama beach (at a cost of Rs. 6.7 million) and a 142-metre dam constructed at Kalukanda in Kapparatota (at a cost of Rs. 6.5 million). The building of a 476-metre long dam at Wellamadama beach, at an expense of Rs. 16.3 million, is also in the pipeline.

One of the first dams to be initiated under this project is the one at Beliwatta; funding to the tune of Rs. 5.2 million has been earmarked for this project, which is nearing completion.

Improving the life of gypsies

Gypsies are a part of our community with a population of over 8,000 spread in different parts throughout the country. They had remained a neglected lot for many years, but now there are measures to integrate them with the rest of the community.

The special programme titled 'Ekama Irak Yata' (Under one sun) was launched by the Social Services and Social Welfare Ministry with this objective in mind.

The programme comprises both short and long-term projects. The short-term projects included a function held opposite the Lunawa railway station to provide medical assistance, wheelchairs, bicycles, birth certificates, national identity cards and police reports to the gypsy community.

The long-term projects envisage(foresee) the preserving of the traditional lifestyle, rituals and beliefs of the gypsy community. It has also been planned to develop infrastructure facilities for them.

Target - 100 per cent literacy rate

Sri Lanka's current literacy rate stands around 91.5 per cent. This is a vast improvement from the 50 per cent rate which was reported 50 years ago. Now, the government has set its sights on the target of a 100 per cent literacy rate by 2011.

Many programmes covering all nine provinces have been launched by the Education Ministry in this regard. The measures enacted by the Ministry's Informal Unit include getting children who are not schooling into the school system and imparting an informal education to illiterate elders.

Under this, the Ministry will motivate the parents of all children who are over three years of age to send these children to pre-schools. The Ministry has also set the school-going age for children at between five and 14 years. Parents and guardians will be legally obliged to send children in these age groups to school.

The Ministry will also issue a record book to every student from next year to replace the single sheet end-of-term assessment reports issued in some schools. It has been reported that poor quality sheets of paper are issued to students in some schools as report books. The well-prepared, printed record book, which will be issued to every student from 2008, will rectify this matter.

Improving literacy will also be promoted as a means of bringing down the crime rate. Over 1,000 children of school-going age, including girls, are jailed every year for various offences. It has been found that 70 per cent of people committing crimes are illiterate. So, it makes sense to encourage schooling and reduce the crime rate.

Child mortality hits record low

Deaths of children under the age five around the world dropped below 10 million for the first time last year, according to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) figures released recently.

UNICEF said deaths in that category hit a record low of 9.7 million from almost 13 million in 1990, and hailed what it called "solid progress on child survival."

There were rapid declines in annual under-five deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean, central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics, East Asia and the Pacific as well as many parts of Africa, it said.

"This is an historic moment," said UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman. "More children are surviving today than ever before. Now we must build on this public health success to push for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."

The poverty-reduction MDGs include a commitment to reduce by two-thirds the under-five mortality rate between 1990 and 2015.

UNICEF attributed the gains to the widespread adoption of basic health measures, including early and exclusive breast feeding, measles immunization, Vitamin A supplements and use of insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria.

But Veneman warned against complacency (self satisfaction).

"The loss of 9.7 million young lives each year is unacceptable. Most of these deaths are preventable and, as recent progress shows, the solutions are tried and tested," she said.

"We know that lives can be saved when children have access to integrated, community-based health services, backed by a strong referral system."

Sharp drops have been reported in many countries since the previous surveys conducted in 1999-2000, with Morocco, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic cutting their under-five mortality rates by more than one third while Madagascar did so by 41 per cent and Sao Tome and Principe by 48 per cent, UNICEF said.

Of the 9.7 million children who died in 2006, 3.1 million hail from south Asia and 4.8 million from sub-Saharan Africa.

The surveys also showed that child mortality in the developing world is much higher among children living in rural areas and in the poorest households.

Countries in the developed world report just six deaths for every 1,000 live births.

AFP

Recycling plastic waste

Did you know that a large part of the material found at local garbage dumping sites comprised plastics? According to the Environment Ministry, more than 1,256 tons of garbage is disposed in the Colombo district daily, out of which seven per cent (88 tons) is plastic.

We use a massive quantity of plastics in our day-to-day lives and find that most of these plastics find their way into garbage dumps after one or two uses, causing severe environmental hazards. But this problem would be minimised if plastic was recycled more and reused.

Sri Lanka imports 160,000 metric tons of plastic raw material and finished products each year. It has been found that over Rs. 32 million worth of foreign exchange could be saved annually and a large number of employment opportunities generated if the National Post Consumer Plastic Waste Management Project (NPCPWMP) is implemented. Plastic, you may know, is made of fossils.

The fossil reserves of the world are dwindling and there may come a time when we have no fossils left. Plastic prices will inrease by leaps and bounds then. Managing this situation through recycling used plastics is therefore a sound option.

The objective of the NPCPWMP is to create an awareness among the public about the proper disposal and recycling of plastic so that a behavioural change could be effected. It was launched two months ago and currently covers households in 31 local authorities in Colombo and Gampaha.

The collection centres and warehouses in every local authority will maintain a smooth network of collectors of plastic waste from households, while recyclers in the area will be informed about the plastic waste available in the warehouses.

Developing irrigation projects in Hambantota

The Hambantota district comprises some of the least developed areas in the island, with the people of these areas lacking access to even basic facilities such as water. The shortage of water for drinking and irrigation has hampered the people of these areas for many decades, but a solution is now at hand, through the Weheragala and Kekiri Obada irrigation projects.

The Weheragala Reservoir project, which will have a capacity of 75 million cubic metres, is expected to develop 14,000 hectares of land.

It will ease the drinking water problem at Kataragama and will provide four million cubic metres of water to the area every year. The project, which has been at the planning stage for years, is estimated to cost Rs. 1,800 million.

The Kekiri Obada Reservoir project in Walasmulla will develop 151 hectares in the area, benefiting 1,500 farmer families. It will also provide drinking water to Tangalle Kirama and Walasmulla.