United Nations green lights chemical waste disposal project for Colombo

Although Sri Lanka does not produce products containing mercury or persistent organic pollutants, it imports a lot of them from abroad. The United Nations Development Programme will implement the activities, which will last five years and have been financed by the Global Environment Facility.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - A 5 million US dollar United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project for chemical waste disposal will be implemented in Sri Lanka with funding from the Global Environment Facility, an organisation that provides funds for environmental protection activities.

Entitled 'Integrated Management and Environmentally Sound Disposal of Pops Pesticides in the Agricultural Sector and Mercury & Waste in the Healthcare Sector in Sri Lanka', the project will be managed by the UNDP as well as the Ministry of Environment.

"UNDP is committed to assisting the Sri Lankan government in developing a chemical waste management system," commented Azusa Kubota, the UN agency's representative in Sri Lanka. "It is only through a coordinated approach that we can fulfil our ambition to save both people and the planet," she added.

'Although stringent standards have been introduced, the lack of capacity to enforce these standards results in the continued mismanagement of chemical imports into the country,' the UNDP pointed out in a statement.

Sri Lanka does not produce products containing mercury or persistent organic pollutants (called pop, persistent organic pollutants), but imports a lot of them from abroad. Pops' are pollutants that do not biodegrade, but accumulate in soil and living tissue.

The aim of the project is to strengthen Sri Lanka's waste disposal systems, thereby promoting compliance with international commitments, explained B. K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment. "This is a good opportunity for Sri Lanka to provide financial and technical assistance to improve the regulatory framework for waste and chemical management and support the transformation of sanitary waste management systems," he added.

The five-year project will cover the health and agriculture sectors. The launch event was attended by a number of government representatives, including officials from the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture, Education, Health, Energy, representatives of provincial councils, Customs, the Investment Council, and various other public and private entities dealing with the environment.

The project, the UNDP further emphasised, will contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.