CHAMPIKA SAYS MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

More than 600 mounds of garbage were removed up to November 14

The festering garbage mounds seen in several parts of Colombo have been cleared up and the City is now completely clean, Megapolis and Western Development Minister Champika Ranawaka said yesterday.

He said the Colombo Beautification Unit which was set up to carry out the task with the assistance of the tri-forces in the wake of the collapse of the Meetotamulla garbage mountain had accomplished the task allotted to them. The minister said more than 600 mounds of garbage were removed up to November 14. He said some 432 the Western Province; among them there were 4,714 within the Colombo Municipality limits.

The Colombo Beautification Unit had identified 1,291 environmental issues and 1,240 of them resolved.

Meanwhile, the SL Navy which participated in this operation had cleaned all the canals within the city limits and filed three cases against the polluters.

It was also revealed that the several awareness and cleanup projects carried out by the Colombo Beautification Unit, the number of dengue patients had also reduced.

Meanwhile, the minister said he had proposed to the Finance Minister to impose a plastic tax, because of concerns relating to environmental pollution caused by plastics and polythene.

Some 432 complaints received on the hotline 1917 set up in the special Solid Waste Management Control Room at the Local Government and Provincial Council Ministry premises were attended to and the sticking points resolved

complaints received on the hotline 1917 set up in the special Solid Waste Management Control Room at the Local Government and Provincial Council Ministry premises were attended to and the sticking points resolved.

The minister said the environmental police had filed 10,790 cases from