The Stroop Effect: Test and Analysis
The recent calamity at Meethotamulla and the decision to dump garbage in Muthurajawela wetland sanctuary which is protected under the Fauna and Flora Ordinance, it is useful to consider the background & waste management in Sri Lanka especially in Colombo District.
Garbage is one of our most pressing problems in everywhere which mean surrounding our homes, schools and hospitals, lining our roads, and blocking our drains, waterways and beaches. The mountain of garbage in Bloemendhall on one of the main roads leading into Colombo from the international airport, has now become a landmark in our city for both tourists and locals alike. Sri Lankan Garbage Mountains are growing by the day, and even a quick glance at Colombo (or indeed any city in the country) helps drive home the point that Sri Lanka has an extremely serious problem regarding the suitable and sustainable management of solid waste.
Rotting rubbish is unsightly and foul-smelling, and makes it extremely unpleasant to live or work nearby. It also leads to an increase in the incidence of diseases borne by vectors such as rats, mosquitoes and flies. Blocked drains and waterways are a significant cause of local flooding, and plastics and other far less pleasant wastes in the form of untreated sewage are regularly encountered when swimming in the sea. More insidiously, the leaching of toxic matter and heavy metals (including lead and mercury) into the soil and waterways is a serious health hazard, poisoning our soils and water supplies. Garbage is quite literally choking us. It is not being disposed of properly, collected effectively, or managed adequately.
Mostly garbage dumped in beauty spots and environmentally sensitive areas. Nobody enjoys living in a rubbish dump. Although all Sri Lankans regard garbage as a problem, and the Government too has identified solid waste as one of the most serious environmental and public health hazards in Sri Lanka today, the general feeling is that it is “somebody else’s” responsibility. Years of deteriorating services, combined with a hitherto apparent unwillingness on the part of successive Governments to take effective, but potentially vote losing, measures, have resulted in general sense of hopelessness throughout the country. Littering and unauthorised waste disposal outside designated areas are illegal. Sri Lankan comprehensive legal system requires that solid wastes be managed properly, and sets out very clearly the responsibility of both Government and the general public for keeping the country clean by disposing of garbage in a proper and lawful manner. It also empowers the police to act swiftly in cases of illegal littering and improper dumping of garbage. Yet little heed seems to be paid to the laws and regulations which govern waste disposal and management, either on the part of the general public, or by the authorities and those departments mandated to enforce them.
Littering and unauthorized waste disposal are illegal in Sri Lanka. Every citizen, including those in the corporate and the public sectors, has a legal responsibility to dispose of garbage only in designated sites. The State has a mandate to keep public places clean, and to collect and properly dispose of both private and public wastes. Any person who litters or dumps garbage illegally may be arrested by the police, and liable for a fine or imprisonment.
SWM services in Sri Lanka come under the purview of local government authorities (LAs). While most LA conduct these services on their own, some LAs (Colombo and Kandy Municipal Councils for example) have outsourced waste management to private sector firms. Nevertheless, the SWM exercise, as a whole remains weak. The fundamental problem is a lack of accountability on the part of those who are elected to office, and apathy on the part of rate-payers to assert their rights and to hold officials accountable. The net result is that in most LA, the near absence of environmentally acceptable SWM creates significant public health risks to all income groups, and particularly to the poor who live in close proximity to waste dumps, and resort to scavenging activities to supplement their meagre incomes.
Over the past few years, there has been a lot of discussion about the problem of solid waste, and what to do about it. But for the most part this has remained at the level of talk — there has been little or no translation of these noble ideas into concrete actions. The problems of garbage and littering remain, and intensify by the day. A good example is Sri Lanka’s National Strategy for SWM, prepared by the Ministry of Environment and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2000, which ostensibly covers all aspects that need to be looked at regarding the problem. The Technical Guidelines on SWM in Sri Lanka, published in 2005 by the CEA. Considering the time and effort expended in producing these documents, had that energy been channelled instead into restoring good governance and the rule of law, Sri Lanka would not be in the predicament the way it finds itself in today.
