Sri Lanka’s child mortality drops

Sri Lanka has a very successful policy example with regard to mortality and from 1940 to 2005 Sri Lanka’s child mortality rate has gone down from 40 to 5 per cent according to the latest findings on children presented by UNICEF during the Fourth SAARC Senior officials’ Conference on Children held at the Hilton Hotel, Colombo recently.

A high adult literacy rate, institutional development, public health midwives and free health education are attributed as the main reasons behind this success story. Sri Lanka’s primary education enrollment is above 87 per cent.

According to the same findings, 40 per cent of people in the SAARC region are under the age of 18 and 11 per cent of them are under the age of five. All eight SAARC countries have signed or ratified International Conventions on children and all the countries have some form of social protection for children.

All countries have legislations against child labour. All SAARC countries spend more than 30 per cent of their fiscal budgets on the social sector. Malnutrition is one of the key challenges of the region. An estimated 300 children in the region live in poverty.

Weheragala reservoir - a boon to farmers

The Weheragala Reservoir, constructed with only the technological know-how of local experts, supported by a local work force of about a thousand people was commissioned by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday, July 11 amidst much fanfare.

Saturday’s commissioning ceremony was witnessed by more than 5,000 local farmers of the area who braved the scorching heat and rugged terrain to witness the historic occasion.

The Weheragala reservoir has been set up by building a dam across Manik Ganga to store water which flows into the sea without being used for a fruitful purpose.

The dam is set up in the Yala National Park on the Buttala - Kataragama road and the water of Menik Ganga will be taken 23 kilometres away to Lunugamvehera through a channel. The reservoir will release 8.5 cubic metres of water per second through its southern sluice-gate additionally providing 60 million cubic metres of water to the Kirindi-Oya project annually. This move will benefit around 6,000 families who are dependent on the Kirindi- Oya waters.

The Weheragala Reservoir Project will provide water to cultivate 25,000 acres of paddy in both Yala and Maha seasons for farmers in Kataragama, Tissamaharama, Lunugamwehera and adjoining areas. Water released is expected to help in alleviating the scarcity of drinking water, especially in the sacred city of Kataragama.

The reservoir is the third largest project of its kind after the Mahaweli and Kirindi-Oya mega development projects.

The project has been completed utilising less than the total estimated cost of Rs. 1,900 million. Another mega irrigation project, Uma Oya, which is in its planning stage would be completed within four years and this would help alleviate water related problems experienced in all the Grama Sevaka divisions in Wellawaya.

SAARC Ministerial Conference on Children:

Poverty alleviation will benefit children- PM

by Ananda Kannangara

Protecting children from child abuse and unlawful activities is the prime duty of all countries in the world and the Government of Sri Lanka too has initiated various programmes to fulfil this task, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake assured at the inauguration of the 4th SAARC Ministerial Conference, concluded in Colombo last week.

He told the participant SAARC leaders that alleviation of poverty from the region would immensely benefit millions of children in all SAARC countries and called upon the leaders to join hands to fulfil this task taking into consideration the fact that these children will be the leaders in the future world.

Speaking further, Prime Minister Wickramanayake expressed special concern over the plight of about 120,000 children in the Northern District, who faced numerous obstacles for 30 years during the LTTE terror period.He reminded the participant SAARC leaders that not only the child population in the Northern District, but also their elders have got an opportunity to enjoy peace after the elimination of terrorism a few months ago.

The Premier also highlighted the importance of providing equal educational facilities to children in the Southern and Eastern provinces and said the Government has implemented many programmes to improve the health and child care facilities of children living in the IDP camps.

UK zoo evacuates public:

Chimps’ break for lunch

LONDON (Reuters) - Chester Zoo, Britain’s most popular wildlife attraction, was evacuated recently after 30 chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure.

The animals made their escape at lunchtime and found their way into a keeper area where their food is normally prepared.

Visitors were asked to leave the 110-acre zoo as keepers rounded up the chimps.“We had an army of chimps eating their way through the keeper’s kitchen and the decision was taken, quite rightly, to evacuate,” a spokeswoman said.

“By around 4 pm we had managed to get all the chimps back in their enclosure, some of them with very full bellies.” There were no injuries to members of the public or staff and the zoo said the decision to evacuate was taken as a precautionary measure.

It apologized for the incident and an investigation was underway into how the animals escaped.Chester Zoo, in Cheshire, North West England, is home to more than 7,000 animals and attracts more than a million visitors each year.