(UTV|COLOMBO) – A series of environmental protection and cleanup programmes are being conducted by the Sri Lanka Navy during the past week. The programmes are carried out in view of the National Environmental Week from 30th May to 05th June.
The National Environment Week has been declared to mark the World Environment Day which falls on Tuesday (05).
Naval troops provided assistance to one such programme organized by the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) to clean the Negombo lagoon. They were joined by more than 700 Army and Air Force personnel, state and private sector representatives, university students and members of the local fishing community. The programme saw the garbage and non-degradable items including plastics materials and other debris washed up ashore and floating in the shallow water, posing a threat to the delicate eco system of the lagoon being collected and safely removed.
On Saturday (02) another group of Naval troops undertook a mission to clean the Galle Face promenade in Colombo. The popular leisure venue is patronized by hundreds of visitors on a daily basis who leave behind a large amount of litter.
Naval troops under the Western Naval Command managed to clean the beach and the adjoining areas and collect a large amount of polythene and plastic materials which were then sent to the Navy’s polythene and plastic recycling centre in Crow Island, Mattakkuliya. This facility makes fancy items, flower pots, fence posts, and pavement interlocks for gardens out of these discarded materials.
The following day (03) a group of Naval troops in collaboration with Army and Lions Club conducted a cleaning campaign in the beach area around the Crow Island in Mattakkuliya.
In Trincomalee, Navy troops carried out another programme to clean the Inner Harbour premises. This initiative was taken by the Naval troops under the Eastern Naval Command together with the Ocean Environment Protection Authority.
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