2024-04-19
News Categories : Committee News
Chair of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources & Sustainable Development Hon. Ajith Mannapperuma instructed officials of all institutions to work together within a specified time frame to speed up the Galle Port Marina Development Project and the establishment of Blue Flag Beaches.
The Chair also pointed out that many projects beneficial to the country are being delayed due to lack of proper coordination and lack of consensus among government institutions.
The Committee Chair stated the said during the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources & Sustainable Development when discussing the Galle Harbor Marina Development Project and the establishment of blue flag beaches initiated in 2018 which has been delayed for 16 years.
Officials representing the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, Ministry of Tourism and Lands, Port Authority, Housing Development Authority, Marine Environmental Protection Authority, Coastal Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department, Galle Municipal Council, Archeology Department, Wildlife Conservation Department were present at the meeting held.
It was disclosed that the grant for the Galle Port Development Project, which is being implemented with the aim of increasing tourist attraction, was approved in 2006 and was not implemented as it was not a financial advantage.
Thereafter, based on the economic advantages of the project, according to the second project proposal, the identified 40 hectares of land will be reclaimed and a heritage impact report, environmental and archeological evaluation report will be obtained for this and given to a suitable investor, the officials of the Port Authority informed the Committee.
Archeology officials also pointed out that there are 4 shipwrecks in this area and an Archaeological Impact Analysis (AIA) could lead to alternative methods such as exhuming the ship parts and displaying them. They further stated that since this land is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, attention should be given to it.
The legal hurdles for this project, including the approval of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, were also taken into discussion here. Attention was also paid to the feasibility of this project being handed over to the Urban Development Authority and the Karaka Council emphasized the need for such projects to be beneficial to the country and implemented in coordination with all institutions. Furthermore, Hon. Ajith Mannapperuma, Chairman of the Committee, pointed out that this Sectoral Oversight Committee should be used as a platform to meet all the institutions and parties and solve the problems.
Accordingly, the port authority was informed to report the related progress to the Committee twice in two weeks and the coastal conservation department was informed to inform the relevant preliminary progress by April 26.
Attention was also paid to the Blue Flag Beaches project, which is implemented with the aim of increasing tourist attraction and protecting the marine environment. It was also disclosed that 28 beaches with tourist attractions in Sri Lanka have been selected for this and 33 criteria must be met for this certificate. The Chair pointed out that 8 beaches in India, which started this project after Sri Lanka, have already received this certificate, and that this project, which was started when he was the state minister for Environment, has been delayed for years and has not yet been implemented.
Officials of the Maritime Environment Protection Authority stated that the beaches of Unawatuna, Bentota, Pasikuda and Arugambe have been identified as beaches that can get official certification and the relevant activities are being carried out. Accordingly, Hon. Ajith Mannapperuma emphasized the need to speed up these activities by coordinating all relevant institutions.
Accordingly, the Committee also advised to organize a workshop to inform all parties including the relevant regional secretaries under the initiative of the Maritime Environment Protection Authority and the Ministry of Tourism and Lands.
2024-09-20
The Committee on High Posts which met recently (Sep. 18) in Parliament has given its approval for the nomination of the Ambassador of Sri Lanka designated to the State of Kuwait.Accordingly, the Committee on High Posts considered the nomination of Mr. L.P. Ratnayake as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the State of Kuwait and has approved same.Hon. Vidura Wickramanayaka, Hon. (Dr.) (Mrs.) Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Hon. Udaya Gammanpila were present at this meeting of the Committee on High Posts Chaired by Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Speaker.
2024-09-09
The report of the Select Committee of Parliament to look into whether the child malnutrition issue in Sri Lanka is aggravating and to identify short term, medium term, and long-term measures to be taken in that regard, as well as to oversee the speedy implementation of the identified measures was presented to Parliament by Member of Parliament, Hon. Rohini Kumari Wijerathna on behalf of the Select Committee Chair Hon. Vadivel Suresh recently (04). The Report presents that child undernutrition can be presented in four forms such as stunting (low length/height for age), wasting (low weight for length/ height or low BMI for age), underweight (low weight for age) and, micro nutrient deficiencies/ insufficiencies - a lack/ inadequacy of important vitamins and minerals. The Report further states that babies born with a birth weight of 2500 grams or less are considered to be low birth weight and according to the National Nutrition and Micronutrient Survey conducted in 2022, the prevalence of low birth weight in a nationally representative sample was 15.9%. The June 2023 Nutrition Month report identified an increase in underweight and stunting among infants and children up to two years of age compared to 2022. The most alarmingly high underweight rate of 24.6% was recorded in Nuwara Eliya district, where one in every four children was identified as moderately or severely underweight, the report said. In June 2023, the proportion of children affected by poverty in Sri Lanka is 10%, according to this report. 1.2% of all children under the age of 5 are affected by severe acute malnutrition and numerically nearly 16,000 children suffer from such acute malnutrition. The Nutrition Month 2023 report revealed a 10.3% increase in stunting among children under the age of five, an increase of 9.2% from the previous year. The report has revealed that the causes of chronic malnutrition, which are short or short in height compared to children of the same age, occur over time. Meanwhile, according to the survey conducted in 2022, a nationally representative sample of children aged 5-18 years found that shortness, overweight and obesity increase with age. The report has shown that lack of food security at the household level has also contributed to malnutrition. Due to the economic crisis in the year 2022, 98% of the entire population has been affected by the increase in food prices, and as a result, 74% of the households could not afford to buy food or daily essentials in the last six months of that year, according to the report. The number of food insecure households increased to 24% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to 17% in March 2023. A third of all families have reduced the frequency of cooking or limited their consumption and a quarter live on food from neighbors. The report provides conclusions and recommendations for improving child nutrition. It emphasized the importance of immediate attention to children before they become chronically malnourished. The report also emphasized the need for adequately skilled field health staff to provide quality Maternal and Child Nutrition (MCN) services for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programs. The report also emphasized that vitamin A supplementation should be considered again before this becomes a problem again, as vitamin A supplementation has been discontinued for school children. The need for urgent action to improve the food security status of families with children under the age of five has also been highlighted. The report also recommends using existing health management information systems to identify focal areas of malnutrition in children and to map risk to address malnutrition in order to identify the most vulnerable families and causal factors. A number of short, medium and long-term recommendations have been presented in this report, including uninterrupted supply of nutritional supplements to pregnant mothers and malnourished children, control of prices of those ingredients to ensure affordable availability of ingredients for a healthy and low-cost diet, the implementation and monitoring of pre-school feeding program, school feeding program and school canteen guidelines to provide quality food.
2024-09-06
The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Food Security & Agriculture went on an observation visit in Gampaha (Minuwangoda) area on August 28 for the survey of paddy harvest obtained through the use of environmentally friendly fertilizer. The main objective of the Committee was to successfully introduce environmentally friendly fertilizer to the Sri Lankan agriculture and it was decided in this Committee that the fertilizer products should be tested in the main paddy growing area. Under the guidance of the Committee Chair Hon. D. Weerasingha, the eco-friendly fertilizer usage program was implemented in 7 provinces and Mahaweli Zones B, C and H in the 2024 yala season, post observing the successful results of paddy demonstrations in Welikanda and Dehiattakandiya areas using environmentally friendly fertilizers in the 2023/2024 Maha season. This observation tour took place in accordance to the said. Officials of the Sectoral Oversight Committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agrarian Development, Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, Agricultural Research Policy Council, National Fertilizer Secretariat, Department of Census and Statistics and Western Provincial Department of Agriculture were present during this program. Under the above program, the program related to the Western Province was conducted under the supervision of the Western Province Agriculture Department and the harvest survey was conducted by the Census and Statistics Department. The overall coordination of the program was done by the National Institute of Fundamental Studies.
2024-08-22
The research report on the gender pay gap was presented to Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, the Speaker of Parliament and Hon. Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition recently (Aug. 08) by Hon. (Dr.) (Mrs.) Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Chair of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus. This report was prepared by a group of researchers including the Women and Media Collective under the leadership of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus. Chair of the Committee on Public Finance, Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva, Member of Parliament, Co-Deputy Chair of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus, Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna, Hon. Eran Wickramaratne Member of Parliament were also present at this event. Addressing the gathering, Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, the Speaker stated that it is important to formulate legislation and new policies to change these wage inequalities. Furthermore, the Hon. Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition stated that provisions should be included in the constitution so that these rights can be upheld. The Caucus Chair pointed out that in order to eliminate this gender wage disparity, there should also be a change in the attitudes among the people in the society. Mrs. Kushani Rohanadeera, Secretary General of the Parliament and the Secretary of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus, thanked everyone who contributed towards the success of this work. Commenting on this research report, the research team led by Dr Sepali Kottegoda, Executive Director of the Women and Media Collective stated that the gender pay gap in the Sri Lankan labor market is primarily and closely linked to unpaid care services. The researchers highlighted that women are under-represented in high-wage industries, concentrated in low-paid service roles, and a significant proportion of women are engaged in part-time work and unpaid domestic care services. Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment, Women and Media Collective, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), National Democratic Institute (NDI) other invitees were present at this event.
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