'Political good governance and commitment brought success'

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

Director UNEP Elizabeth Maruma Mrema

Founder and Chairman of ASCENT (African System Ability Centre) Bakary Kante

Lahore High Court Judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah

Project Leader and Counsel ADB Irum Ahsan

Good political governance and commitment has brought the country from a conflict ridden country to a highly developed state within a short period and is truly phenomenal and inspirational to other countries. Sustainable development, protecting the environment is an important area where a developing country should focus on and that is exactly what is happening in Sri Lanka at present.

These were the comments made by many participants who took part in the third South Asia Judicial Roundtable on Environmental Justice for Sustainable Green Development which concluded in Colombo yesterday.

Expressing her ideas Director Division of Environmental Law and Governance of United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) Elizabeth Maruma Mrema told the Sunday Observer that the change she see in the country is unbelievable. Ms. Mrema who visited Sri Lanka once before in 2004 noticed that infrastructure and mobility had developed to a great extent. Making her way out of the airport and coming to Colombo she said was wondering whether she had arrived in a different country because of the memory she had of Sri Lanka when she arrived in 2004 was so different.

With a major development drive in progress , many environmental issues are bound to rise and these issues should be addressed fas it concerns the citizens of the country and their right to a clean and healthy environment. But by the looks of it, Sri Lanka does not possess grave environmental issues due to the development. The road network in the city is really clean and no air pollution was visible.

The 3rd South Asia Judicial Roundtable on Environmental Justice for Sustainable Green Development brings together Chief Justices, senior judges, legal practitioners, the academe, members of civil society and experts from various fields to consider common environmental challenges in the region. It will also share experiences and discuss opportunities for cooperation between judiciaries to enhance environmental adjudication and enforcement, and the promotion of environmental justice. Over hundred of judicial experts took part in the event held on August 8 and 9 at the John Exter Conference Hall of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The program was held for the third time in Sri Lanka on the invitation of Chief Justice Mohan Peiris. The first program was held in Pakistan in 2012 and the second in Bhutan. The project was jointly organised by Sri Lankan Government and the Asian Development Bank under the purview of the UNEP.

Project Leader and Counsel on behalf of the ADB ,Irum Ahsan said the ADB is leading an initiative on building capacity for environmental prosecution, adjudication, dispute resolution, compliance and enforcement in Asia. South Asia is one of the sub-regions under this initiative and two Roundtables have already been organised in partnership with the Supreme Courts of Pakistan and Bhutan.

When making the judiciary aware of environment laws and how to act in an instance when an individual's environmental rights had been challenged due to a national development goal, the top most person in the legal system, the Chief Justice will be picked as he could then take necessary measures in educating subordinates. A research tour had been made by the organisers in May this year and the program was extremely successful with the commitment shown by the CJ Mohan Peiris, she said.

Founder and Chairman of ASCENT (African System Ability Centre) Bakary Kante said he was delighted that Sri Lanka has developed to such an extent compared to what he saw during his last visits in 2006 and 2009. Kante believes that it was due to the able leadership which was this driving force which was exceptional and unique."If somebody has a passion nothing is impossible. We witnessed Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa make the inaugural speech with such passion," he said.

Responding to the fact that the effect being made on the environment due to mega scale national development projects, Kante said that an omelette can't be cooked without breaking some eggs. But what is most important is that those eggs are broken for a worthy cause, he said. Lahore High Court Judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah expressing his views on the program said Sri Lanka should consider appointing a Green Judge to hear and pass judgements on environmental cases. Being a Green Judge in Pakistan Justice Shah sees the importance of country is possessing a different court of law for environmental issues which needs more space and a different attitude towards hearing a case.

Some of the major environmental cases being heard in Pakistan at present is the River Ravi case, which is one of the extremely polluted main rivers in Lahore and cases related to forestry and urban planning. He requested CJ Mohan Peiris to introduce and appoint Green Judges in Sri Lanka in the future to face cases related to environment in a positive manner.