ejustice 1.2 - EDITORIAL Right to environmental information

EDITORIAL

Right to environmental information

Every citizen makes dozens of decisions every day on many things related to their life, families, communities and perhaps much broader. Right to information is fundamental in such decision making. In this 21st century such information should have readily available in different formats. In fact there are plenty of information available and unfortunately they are not relevant or not from trusted sources. Compare to the western world southern people have very little information relevant to most of their critical decisions.

Environmental Information is one of the critical set of information required for daily decisions. The information on the quality of basic needs such as air, water, sanitation, food are very important for everyone but not readily available. Further, information and data on soil, land, natural resources, weather, climate are very much lacking in Sri Lanka. We also lack health related information.

Development decisions which includes whether infrastructure projects have positive or negative impacts are another set of environmental information. We also need environmental information such as biodiversity. Most of these information is not publicly available. Either such information is not gathered or they may not be available in public disclosure formats.

Sri Lanka’s Right to information(RTI) Act, No 12 of 2016 is a new law brought in line with the information disclosure. RTI Act comes into effect by bringing with it a promise of open government, citizens’ active participation in governance, and accountability to the people of the country. This law has been largely used for getting information on education, Public administration, health, finance and development matters. There is not much requests related to the environmental information.

Centre for Environmental Justice has been trying to obtain some environmental information and development related decisions such as EIA approvals, Environmental Protection Licence in Sri Lanka since this law has been effective.

It was very positive to obtain EIA approvals from the CEA. We have received EIA approvals on Yan Oya, Moragahakanda, Uma Oya, etc.

However, Ministry of Megapolis refused to release the Agreement signed between Sri Lanka and the Chinese government on the Colombo Port City Development project. They cited that the Chinese government did not gave authority to divulge the agreement. Meanwhile, Ministry of Health also failed to provide information on number of Genetically modified foods that have been registered or available in the country.

Environmental Impact Assessment process is the only mandatory procedure to provide environmental information for decision making. However, this has become a badly managed process in Sri Lanka. EIAs have lost its credibility as a truthful report compared to the beginning of the process in 1993. One of the major impediment was lack of baseline data across the country. Similarly EPL process has also lost its credibility as an effective regulatory tool as well as a tool for generating sufficient environmental information for decision making.

People still lack interest to obtain environmental information although the necessary regulations are available. On the other hand environmental agencies lack necessary information to make this environmental decisions and to build an informed society. The right to environmental information wil continue to be a challenge unless the concerned citizens get engage in the right manner.

Editorial team

ejustice 1.2 - HOW SAFE IS AIR WE BREATH IN SRI LANKA?

HOW SAFE IS AIR WE BREATH IN SRI LANKA? 

Theme for the World Environment Day 2018 was “Beat Plastic Pollution”. Now we are moving to another theme in 2019 which is “Beat Air Pollution”. Its not a bad idea to remind people that we are in multiple environmental crisis.

Global heating due to burning of fossil fuel such as coal and gasoline is yet an unbeatable task. The climate catastrophe is already rioting against the human population but all life forms are in a real mess due to this man made crisis.

Meanwhile indoor pollution is equally dangerous to human population expecially for the poor.

According to the United Nations, approximately 7 million people worldwide die prematurely each year from air pollution, with about 4 million of these deaths occurring in Asia-Pacific. Air pollution costs the global economy $5 trillion every year in welfare costs. Further, ground-level ozone pollution is expected to reduce staple crop yields by 26 per cent by 2030.

World Health Organisation (WHO) claims that 92% of the people in the World do not breathe clean air and around 8 million deaths annually can be attributed to air pollution with 4.3 million deaths from indoor air pollution and 3.7 million deaths from outdoor air pollution. WHO recognizes that air pollution is a critical risk factor for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), causing an estimated one-quarter (24%) of all adult deaths from heart disease, 25% from stroke, 43% from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 29% from lung cancer.

In Sri Lanka, over 45% of the admissions of children to hospitals are due to air pollution. It has also been estimated that 7,792 people died from air pollution-related disease and the rate is increasing each year. The top illness caused by air pollution is Ischemic heart disease.

Outdoor Air Pollution

In 2010, Evaluation and Research Unit, National Institute of Health Sciences, Ministry of Health, Kalutara, Sri Lanka concluded that “air pollution may be considered a neglected public health problem in Sri Lanka. (Y L Nandasena et. al, 2010) The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) has data upto 2012, however, National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) measure the ambient air quality at Colombo, Gampaha, Horana, Kaluthara, Rathnapura, Kandy, Kurunegala and Anuradhapura areas since 2012 with the support of the Vehicle Emission Testing (VET)Trust Fund of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. Although there are some criticisms, VET programme is responsible for cleaning urban air in Sri Lanka.

When lawyer and environmental activist Lalanath De Silva filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court stating that the Minister of Environmental Affairs had not taken steps to control the air pollution in Colombo and that he and his family were deprived of the basic right to breathe clean air, the Supreme Court ordered that the Minister bring in these regulations to effect by June 2000. Although the regulations were gazetted, it was not effective until 2008 due to the delay by corrupt politicians.

However, increased of number of vehicles on the streets, traffic congestions, increased construction sites in the urban centres, removal of trees and public green areas have negatively contributed the air quality of cities in Sri Lanka. Many government vehicles and public busses still do not follow the emission regulations. According to statistics compiled by Prof. Amal Kumarage of the Moratuwa University (2017), on an average, 300,000 vehicles enter the Colombo city daily. There are 7.24 million vehicles in Sri Lanka out of which 4.04 million are motorcycles with 1.14 million three wheelers and 600,000 vehicles are registered every year. The lack of a proper high quality public transport system has resulted in over 50% of the working population to use private vehicles to commute to work. Average speed for vehicles in Colombo was 22 km/hour in 2012 while it is now 17 km/hour. Vehicles travelling in traffic jams produce more fine particles in the form of soot which adversely affects our health.( Prof O.A. Illeperuma, The Island 2018)

Diesel as a Carcinogen

After three decades of epidemiologic research, diesel exhaust was classified as a carcinogen in humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2012 based on evidence of its carcinogenicity to the lung. It is also a known fact that low quality Diesel has high sulphur levels.

The current air pollution level around Sri Lanka has an annual average of 22 µg/m3 of PM2.5 particles which is 2.2 times the WHO safe level. Currently The main source of ambient air pollution in Sri Lanka is vehicular emissions, which in Colombo contributes to over 60% of total emissions.

Indoor Air Pollution

Indoor air pollution is caused by congested houses, cooking with fire woods and even with the use of chemicals indoors, kerosene lamps, burning mosquito coils and incense sticks etc. About 4.3 million people worldwide annually die from such indoor air pollution. Some indoor pollutants such as chemicals, mosquito coils and Incense sticks release carcinogenic chemicals. While fossil based electricity generation releases Green house gases lack of electricity at houses also result indoor air pollution either by burning fire woods for cooking or burning kerosene lamps.

Climate Crisis

Climate crisis itself is a result of unabated air pollution. Study from the Duke University claims that as many as 153 million deaths linked to air pollution worldwide this century could be prevented if governments speed up timetables for reducing fossil fuel emissions to keep below 1.5 C temperature increase.


Lack of Public Awareness


The public awareness is lagging on the danger of air pollution. People continue to pollute air at all levels and also die due to this lack of awareness.

World Environment Day 2019 is an another moment to call governments, industries, communities, and individuals to come together to explore renewable energy and green technologies, and improve air quality in cities and regions across the world. (END)

ejustice 1.2 - ADB Safeguard violations of the UPPER ELAHARA CANAL PROJECT

ADB Safeguard violations of the

UPPER ELAHARA CANAL PROJECT

Hemantha Withanage (B.Sc)

Asian Development Bank agrees that the ADB funded Mahaweli Water Security Investment Program which involves Upper Elahera Canal Project (UECP) had violated its Safeguard policy 2009. However, ADB has yet to accept that this project also has issues on the basis of conflict of interest.

The UECP comprises two components. The first component is the construction of the Kalu Ganga-Moragahakanda Transfer Canal (including two tunnels) that will transfer water between the Kalu Ganga and Moragahakanda reservoirs. The second component is the construction of the Upper Elahera Canal that connects the Moragahakanda reservoir to the existing reservoirs Huruluwewa, Manankattiya, Eruwewa and Mahakanadarawa (including in total 28 km of tunnels).

In late 2018 the project was involved in clearing the access road to the tunnel entrance. Construction of 1.7 km access road inside Beligama forest which is part of the Knuckles conservation forest was already identified component at the EIA and ADB decision making stage. However the construction company Sinohydro Corporation Ltd involves clearing another 1 km through the conserved forest without prior approval of the Forest Department and the Central Environmental Authority. This is undoubtedly an environmental safeguards violations of the ADB.

Although the environmental impact have been identified for the initial 1.7 km section, the construction company did not follow the conditions set during the project approval. The company has dump debris and soil to the river side without respecting the environmental safeguards.Therefore, the Sinohydro Corporation Ltd., has violated the Fauna and Flora Protection ordinance, Forest Ordinance No 16 of 1907 (amended) and the National Environmental Act No 47 of 1980(amended).

ADB Safeguard policy statement -June 2009 state that;

“In areas of natural habitat, the project will not significantly convert or degrade such habitat, unless the following conditions are met: (i) No alternatives are available. (ii) A comprehensive analysis demonstrates that the overall benefits from the project will substantially outweigh the project costs, including environmental costs. (iii) Any conversion or degradation is appropriately mitigated.”( Section 26)

When the project involves activities in a critical habitat, the borrower/client will retain qualified and experienced external experts to assist in conducting the assessment.(Section 29)

According to the Policy

“In circumstances where some project activities are located within a legally protected area, in addition to the requirement specified in para. 28, the borrower/client will meet the following requirements: (i) Act in a manner consistent with defined protected area management plans. (ii) Consult protected area sponsors and managers, local communities, and other key stakeholders on the proposed project. (iii) Implement additional programs, as appropriate, to promote and enhance the conservation aims of the protected area.”( Section 30)

The Safeguard policy statement -June 2009 state “Where unanticipated environmental impacts become apparent during project implementation, the borrower/client will update the environmental assessment and EMP or prepare a new environmental assessment and EMP to assess the potential impacts, evaluate the alternatives, and outline mitigation measures and resources to address those impacts”.( section 23)

Conflict of Interest

Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment has a conflict of interest over this project. The Project implementing agency Mahaweli Water Security Investment Programme and the two regulatory authorities i.e. Forest Department and the Central Environmental Authority also comes under the same Ministry.

The Secretary to the Ministry Mahaweli Development and Environment oversight all the agencies and therefore the project governance is not done in a proper manner.

The Secretary initially requested the Synohydro corporations to plant 300 trees to compensate the destruction however, IUCN was requested to develop a report. This happens only when environmentalist Mr. Jayantha Wijesinghe and CEJ start raising this issue in the local media and with the ADB.

The Forest Department or the CEA did not act against the violation due to the conflict of interest. Such obstruction of justice and interference in the duties of agencies tasked with detecting, investigating, and prosecuting illicit behaviour which has identified as a possible corrupt practices in the ADB Anticorruption Policy should not have happen in this case.

Ideally the project should have been implemented by a different agency without creating this conflict of interest. Still it is the role of the Asian Development Bank to ensure proper governance and remove barriers.

Although the ADB expect civil society to act as watchdogs, this experience shows that it is not practical for civil society to monitor when some projects are complicated and people don’t have access to projects sites. On the other hand there is no civil society representation to the Project steering committee and the transparency of such project activities are doubtful.

Some contractors are not trained to follow safeguards. The problems also exists when the contractors don’t understand the requirements specially due to the language barrier.

The ADB funded projects now should have inhouse safeguard officers. It is unfortunate that they did not stop the damage. Therefore its the duty of the CEA and the Forest Department to take legal action.(END)

ejustice 1.2- THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION COMPACT LAND GRANT TO SRI LANKA:

THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION COMPACT LAND GRANT TO SRI LANKA: 

Challenge of the hour is Innovative Green Planning

Prof. Nimal Gunathilake

It was recently reported that the Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of USA has approved a five-year, $480 million Compact grant to the Government of Sri Lanka on 25th April 2019. This is aimed at reducing poverty through economic growth in Sri Lanka (Sunday Observer, 28 April 2019). The MCC Sri Lanka Compact is expected to be signed in the near future, pending congressional notification, according to a MCC press release.

In order to provide the background information on the development of this grant process to the readers of this article, I have depended heavily on the following MCC Sri Lanka website (https://www.mcc.gov/where-we-work/program/sri-lanka-compact) and the US Embassy press releases available on the web (https://lk.usembassy.gov/millennium-challenge-corporation-official-visits-sri-lanka-to-continue-progress-on-compact-development/, http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19A/Apr26_1556286277CH.php) etc.

The MCC is a U.S. Government corporation chaired by the secretary of state and acclaimed to be an innovative foreign assistance agency of the United States Government, established in 2004 that has already signed similar Compacts with 29 countries around the world. The US Congress funds the Millennium Challenge Account and MCC administers its resources.

The Compact to be signed with Sri Lanka shortly, seeks to assist the Sri Lanka Government in addressing two of the country’s binding constraints to economic growth: (1) inadequate transport logistics infrastructure and planning; and (2) lack of access to land for a) agriculture, b) the services sector, and c) industrial investors.

Consequently, the Compact for Sri Lanka has come up with two projects for funding: i) a Transport Project and ii) a Land Project. These projects have been formulated after completing a series of feasibility studies that were needed to develop a high-quality, evidence-based and sustainable program on ‘constraints – to - growth analysis’ and preparing a ‘country scorecard’ assessing the annual performance of 20 parameters in three policy categories: i) Ruling Justly, ii) Investing in People (including natural resource protection receiving high marks for Sri Lanka), and iii) Encouraging Economic Freedom. These studies were carried out by the Sri Lanka Government with MCC’s assistance since December 2016 and completed in September 20, 2017 in order to identify the most binding constraints that prevent private-sector led growth in Sri Lanka.

The Transport Project aims to (i) increase the relative efficiency and capacity of the road network and bus system in the Colombo Metropolitan Region and to (ii) reduce the cost of transporting passengers and goods between the central region of the country and ports and markets in the rest of the country. This transport component of the proposed Compact would improve road networks and the bus system in the Colombo Metropolitan Region, and improve road connectivity between the central region and ports and markets in the Western Province. The Compact would upgrade more than 300 kilometers of urban and interprovincial roads.

The Land Project:

Under the Land Project, which is the main focus of this article, the Compact is expected to improve land administration, and strengthen land rights and tenure security. The goal of the Land Project is said to be to increase the availability of information on private land and underutilized state lands or all land in Sri Lanka to which the Government is lawfully entitled or which may be disposed of by the Government (“State Lands”) in order to increase land market activity (A Land Bank). The Land Project would then be increasing tenure security and tradability of land for smallholders, women, and firms through policy and legal reforms.

One of the key binding constraints to economic growth identified with respect to land availability is apparently the difficulty of the private sector in accessing state-owned land for commercial purposes. As such, the goal of the Land Project is to increase the availability of information on private land and underutilized state lands or all land in Sri Lanka to which the Government is lawfully entitled or which may be disposed of by the Government (‘State Lands’) in order to increase land market activity.

The Land Project would expect to increase tenure security and tradability of land for smallholders, women, and firms through policy and legal reforms. Improvement of land administration processes is expected to be done in 08 districts, improving the land valuation system, upgrading 10 land registries and preparing what is known as ‘Parcel Fabric Maps of all state and private land’ to facilitate the activities of the Survey Department.

The Compact budget allocation given for the Land Project in the following document (http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19A/Apr26_1556286277CH.php) is summarized in the table above.

In addition to the above details, I was unable to find further information on each of the activities for which funds have been allocated as given in the Compact budget allocation.

National Physical Plan 2018-2050

Parallel to this MCC project, a revised National Physical Planning Policy for Sri Lanka and the plan 2018-2050 has been prepared by the National Physical Planning Department (NPPD) under the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry in consultation with various stakeholders, over a period of one and half years. It aims to promote and regulate the integrated planning of economic, social, physical and environmental aspects of land and territorial waters of Sri Lanka.

The National Physical Plan prepared for 2011-2030, which was gazetted in 2011 is now considered as outdated, apparently because several key national and international developments have taken place since then. The new plan for 2018-2050 has been approved by the National Physical Planning Council (NPPA) and the National Economic Council (NEC) of Sri Lanka and is expected to be gazetted shortly (Daily News: Thursday, February 28, 2019).

The new plan for 2018-2050 has proposed to develop Colombo-Trincomalee as the main economic corridor along with three other sub-corridors, while Anuradhapura and Kandy are also to be developed separately as metropolitan areas. The key component of the plan is the proposed Colombo-Trincomalee economic corridor, which consists of one-third of the country’s population. This corridor encompasses the Colombo Megapolis and the Metro Regions of Negombo, Kurunegala, Dambulla and Trincomalee.

According to the proposed NPP 2018-2050, the future development initiatives in the corridor, such as industrial estates, cultural development zones, tourism zones, urban service centers will be concentrated in the above mentioned six major population centers (metro regions) in the corridor. The main purpose of infrastructure development is apparently to attract foreign and local investments to these areas, for individual developments. More details on this plan are expected to be made available in the near future through a study conducted by the Asian Development Bank.

From information available in the public domain so far on the two proposed development projects referred to above, it is likely that the six metro regions (viz. Colombo Megapolis and the Metro Regions of Gampaha, Negombo, Kurunegala, Dambulla and Trincomalee) identified by the National Physical Plan 2018-2050 would overlap, at least partially, with the eight districts identified by the MCC grant for improvement of land administration in them, initially over a period of five years.

Environmental and socio-cultural concerns


The preparation of a new National Physical Plan prioritizing the development of the proposed economic corridor from Colombo to Trincomalee, and succeeding in securing an outright grant to economically develop eight districts associated with this corridor is much appreciated. Additionally, in these early stages of planning, one has to consider weather adequate provisions have been made in the proposed projects as land related socio-cultural and environmental safeguards.

Some of the proposed areas of economic development selected for these projects are replete with proven examples of most sustainable agro-ecological heritage systems such as the cascade systems which have gone in to disuse due to a number of factors. However, it is indeed heartening to see that they are re-emerging as agro-ecological systems that are ideally suited for a densely populated small country like Sri Lanka. After all, much of Sri Lanka’s agro-based economy is driven by small-holders (e.g. tea, rubber, coconut, spices, vegetables and rice paddy). It is also encouraging and reassuring that these Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS of FAO) are being revived at present in some districts like Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura.

From the limited information available in the public domain as yet on this MCC Land Compact, it appears to be a mega-project of the scale of the Mahaweli Development Project of the 1970s. This being so, we earnestly hope that a sound and comprehensive strategic environmental impact assessment (SEA) as well as a robust socio-cultural impact assessment under land use planning process would be carried out during this early planning stage and be made available to public in advance. These assessments could benefit from a plethora of lessons learnt on social, cultural, environmental, and economic and health issues emerging from the Mahaweli Development Project which is now nearing 50 years since its inception with the construction of the Polgolla barrage and its associated infrastructure development projects.

On the environmental front, many lessons can be learnt from the implementation of the environmental impact assessment carried out by the USAID contracted TAMS team especially on human-animal conflicts in the face of human settlements and agro-industrial development under the Mahaweli Development Program. Likewise, the more recent development projects like the Moraghakanda-Kaluganga multi-purpose development project also could shed more light on the corrective measures already taken in mitigating the above issues.

Land Valuation System Improvement Activity


One of the major activities proposed under the MCC Land Grant is the land valuation system improvement (land value is the value of a piece of property including both the value of the land itself as well as any improvements that have been made to it) is a very important issue that comes up repeatedly alongside the socio-environmental impact assessments in land-use planning under various development projects.

At this point in time, it may be premature to address this issue without access to the context-specific details of the concept and the action plans with respect to this proposed land grant activity. Yet, it may still be worthwhile to look at the valuation of lands in a holistic manner including the all-important ecological services they render which are still being given the lowest priority in land-use planning in Sri Lanka.

This is because no economic value has been tagged to most of the ecological services such as regulation of climate, flash floods, soil erosion, provisioning of clean water, pollination services etc. nor have they been addressed adequately in the current Environmental Impact Assessment processes in Sri Lanka. I have addressed the issues pertaining to the valuation of ecosystem services with specific reference to forestry sector and national planning in Sri Lanka on several occasions (file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/6255-22141-2-PB.pdf; file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/7937-27898-2-PB.pdf;).

The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 2016-2022) for Sri Lanka too, has highlighted this lacuna. One of the key recommendation of NBSAP-Sri Lanka based on the framework of ‘Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for capturing ecosystems service values’ is to mainstream economic valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity in to national planning, implementation and decision-making by integrating biodiversity and ecosystems service values to national accounting systems – Green Accounting.

The NBSAP (2016-2022) further states that appropriate guidelines need to be developed in order to incorporate Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Values into regional/ national/ local level planning and plan implementation.

This is to be in compliance with the Aichi Biodiversity Target 2 which says ‘By 2020, at the latest, biodiversity values have been integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and are being incorporated into national accounting, as appropriate, and reporting systems’.

Valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity of different landscapes has been one of the most critical areas of study needed particularly at a time when large-scale economic development programs are being formulated in a piece-meal approach particularly in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern and North-western regions of Sri Lanka.

An inclusive assessment of the land value i.e. both the value of the land itself as well as any improvements (or the lack of it, leaving as wildlife corridors or watershed restoration areas, for example) that has been made to it with respect to ecosystem services need to be made before deciding on land conversion for large-scale agricultural or industrial development in these areas.

Some of the districts in which the MCC and the National Plan Corridor project ear-marked for development are located in areas where the Mahaweli Development Project influence had been in existence for well over several decades. Therefore, taking a stock of the current situation with respect to environmental, socio-cultural and economic parameters would be helpful as an initial bench mark for management of any avoidable risks. While socio-economic data and their analyses reports may be available over the years, inclusive environmental economic assessments of areas with competing interests, in my opinion, are woefully lacking in the whole of Sri Lanka.

However, there are excellent examples of this kind from our immediate neighbor, India which we could take a cue from. An economic valuation of tiger reserves and snow leopards in India: a value+ study conducted by the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal has shown that the Tiger reserves in India not only support more than half of the global tiger population and are cornerstones of biodiversity conservation, they also provide a wide range of economic, social and cultural benefits in the form of ecosystem services. (www:iifm.ac.in./cesm/; https://conservewildcats.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/WildCats/papers/NTCA_Report2015.pdf; file:///D:/Ecosystem%20Services%20&%20their%20valuation/2019/Economic%20value%20of%20land%20-%20%20MCC/Economic-valuation-guidelines%20-%20Verma%20et%20al.pdf).

The Indian scientists looked at six tiger reserves and estimated that conserving them was equivalent of keeping a secure capital of USD 230 billion which they call ‘stock benefits’ of these tiger reserves. Through economic valuation of ecosystem services from six tiger reserves in India, these scientists demonstrated that enhanced investment in these tiger reserves is economically rational.

In a similar manner, the habitats of the flagship species of Sri Lanka – the elephant, established in the Mahaweli Development area based on a USAID-TAMS study in the 1980s, could be evaluated for their ecosystem services, as a component of the Land Valuation System Improvement Activity of the MCC project on lands.

Some sections of the proposed economic corridor seem to cross the paths of the ecological corridors established for facilitating elephant migration during the USAID-funded environmental component of the Mahaweli Project. Ignorance of such ecological values would influence the well-intended public policies in a negative way. It would also affect the decisions made on investments and funding allocation that may affect protection status of these keystone species with serious implications on human wellbeing. We are already experiencing increasing levels of human-elephant and other human-animal conflicts in these areas.

The MCC grant is said to be an innovative foreign assistance catalyst to promote an environment that supports equity and freedom for the Sri Lankan people. Concurrently, the Government of Sri Lanka maintains its commitment to democratic institutions, pursues sound economic policies, and invests in the welfare and health of its people. The operating model of the MCC grant reflects five principles two of which directly relevant to this article are given below:

Sustainable prosperity and development require good governance, strong anti-corruption measures, sound economic policies, investments in health and education, and attention to issues such as gender equality and environmental protection,

Recipient countries need to take ownership of the design and implementation of development programs to increase their chances of success.

My random thoughts on this MCC Land Project are given in good faith, as we in the recipient countries eventually need to take the ownership of the design and implementation of development programs to increase their chances of success.

In that context, perhaps a broader public dialogue on different aspects (socio-cultural, environmental, health and economic) of this land project, once the details of each component are made more widely available to the public, would be most appropriate. It would, no doubt, help in further refining the design and implementation of this program and thereby enhance its chances of success which is the main objective of this article.

After all, the need and the ‘challenge’ of the hour is ‘innovative green planning’.(END)

The author of this article is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Peradeniya and was a Charles Bullard Fellow in Forestry Research at Harvard University, USA. He could be contacted at savnimg@gmail.com.

ejustice 1. 2- World Environment Day 2019

World Environment Day 2019

Beat Air Pollution

People around the world take collective actions on June 5 every year to celebrate World Environment Day. “Air pollution”, the theme for World Environment Day 2019, is a call to action to combat one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time. Chosen by this year’s host, China, the theme of World Environment Day 2019 invites us all to consider how we can make changes in our everyday lives to reduce the amount of air pollution we produce, and thwart its contribution to global warming and its effects on our own health.

Centre for Environmental Justice appeal to all Sri Lankan Citizens to act together and reduce own air pollution footprint.

ejustice 1.1 - ejustice

ejustice 1.1 - MERCURY FOUND IN WOMEN HAIR IN PUTTALAM

MERCURY FOUND IN WOMEN HAIR IN PUTTALAM

Chalani Rubasinghe ( B. Sc, M.Sc)

The recent study on mercury in hair by CEJ involved revealed that the residents in the Norochcholai, Paniadiya, Narakkalliya and around the Puttalam town area vicinity to the lagoon has been exposed to Mercury at dangerous levels. 28 women between 18 to 44 years old that had no occupational Mercury exposure found to have Mercury in their hair above 1ppm, the level that United States National Research Council established as a “reference dose” in 2000 (U.S. EPA 2001). The highest level was 15.584 ppm. The study focused on the Mercury contamination through lagoon fish consumption. Hopefully connected to the fly ash from the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant.

Mercury in hair is an indicator of the environmental exposure to mercury. It can be coming from blood or exogenous sources (outside of the body) . There’s no correlation between the level of mercury in hair and blood or urine mercury levels. Separate testing should be conducted to measure the levels of mercury in blood and urine.

However, A study shows that if the methyl mercury concentration in a pregnant mother’s body is enough to increase the mercury level in hair by 1ppm, the respective decrease in the IQ of the child is 0.7 points. Out of the women participated, 17 from Norochcholei and 11 from Puttlum had mercury in hair exceeding the internationally recognized reference level of 1 ppm total mercury (THg), above which health effects to the developing foetus of pregnant women may occur . The age limit of the women is between 18 and 44.

The results indicate the concentration of total mercury in the hair and the exposure to mercury during the immediate past few months, as the average rate of hair growth is approximately 1 cm per month . There was no significant difference in the fish diet of women having elevated levels of Hg and below 1ppm of mercury. However some of them preferred eating sea fish. Women live closer to the lagoon consume the same set of fish species, sometimes several species cooked together. It is difficult to predict the toxicity due to mercury in the studied population without conducting a proper blood or urine test for mercury. Yet, it is clear that they are vulnerable to mercury contamination from the surrounding environment. Saving women in childbearing stage is very important as their babies could be impacted.

The solution to this problem is not for women to avoid eating fish but to stop emissions of mercury from coal-fired power plant and other industrial, agricultural sources.(END)

ejustice 1.1 - COLOMBO’S DISAPPEARING WETLANDS

COLOMBO’S DISAPPEARING WETLANDS

Indika Rajapaksha (B. Sc)Environmental Officer

Colombo is a city built on and around wetlands. Over 500 years ago the ancient Kingdom of Kotte flourished in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and centred on a fortress surrounded by lakes and marshes known as Diyawanna Oya and Kolonnawa Oya. Whilst much has changed in the intervening years, today the home of the Sri Lankan parliament and administrative centre for the country can still be found situated on a reclaimed island on a lake in the suburb of Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte at the centre of the Colombo Metro Region (CMR).

Today wetlands cover approximately 20 km2 across the CMR .However, the extent of the wetlands only tells part of the story. Since the days of the Kingdom of Kotte wetlands within the CMR have been progressively degraded, infilled and lost. Much of this damage is considered irreversible. Some estimates suggest that wetlands comprising the Kolonnawa Marsh have been reduced in area by as much as 65% since the 1980s. Similarly, as much as 60% of paddy lands across the wetlands of CMR may have been converted to non‐wetland use over a similar time period.

The wetlands provide effective protection from flooding. During intensive rainfall events, the wetlands are able to store several tens of millions cubic meters of water (up to 68 Mm3 for the 100 year return period flood or the equivalent of more than 27,000 Olympic sized swimming pools). The wetlands can reduce extreme air temperatures and make the city more livable. Due to evaporative cooling, the wetlands can reduce air temperatures, the effect of which can extend into areas up to 100m away from the wetlands’ physical boundaries.

This means that over 65 km2, or more than 50% of urban Colombo, benefits from this natural air conditioning. The wetland soils are mitigating global climate change. Estimates suggest that the wetland soils contain approximately 1.43 million metric tons of carbon; the equivalent of almost 90% of the annual carbon emissions from CMR.

The wetlands are protecting the health of citizens. Four out of five of the wetland areas in Colombo buffer the negative impacts of airborne pollutants on air quality. Through the trapping and removal of particulate matter the wetlands are reducing the incidence of cardiopulmonary and respiratory diseases, coughing, bronchitis, and lung cancer, as well as premature deaths from these diseases resulting from elevated concentrations of ambient particulate matter.

The Colombo Metropolitan Region losses 1.2% of wetlands per year (World Bank,2018) The city of Colombo has been declared as a wetland city by the International Ramsar Convention Secretariat. The Wildlife Department, together with the cooperation of all relevant parties had made an application to the Ramsar Convention Secretariat to obtain the international wetlands certification for the Colombo city.

Highlighting the importance of making use of the urban wetlands amidst urbanization and focusing on protecting its biodiversity, it was decided at the Ramsar Secretariat Stakeholders Conference in 2015 to name such cities as international wetland cities.

Accordingly, 18 wetland cities were chosen from China, South Korea, France, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and several other cities to be named as wetland cities by the Ramsar Secretariat.

This provides a unique opportunity to protect the existing wetlands in the Colombo Metropolitan Region. A national wetland policy has been formulated by the Central Environment Authority in 2006. National Wetland Day which falls on 02nd of February is celebrated annually. However actual effort put towards conserving the existing wetland is minimum. Many unauthorized fillings are happening overnight. It is high time for individuals, civil society and citizens of Colombo to raise their voice against illegal filling, garbage dumping, and industrial effluent dumping to wetlands. Otherwise this title Colombo has gained as a wetland city would be just a title.[END]

ejustice 1.1 - MALWATHU OYA PROJECT TO DESTROY MORE FORESTS

MALWATHU OYA PROJECT TO DESTROY MORE FORESTS

Ranjan Karunanayake
Media Officer

The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management has proposed Lower Malwathu Oya Reservoir (LMOR ) with the objectives reducing the flooding in the Malwathu Oya basin and increasing the water availability in Giant tank and Akathimuruppu tank and thereby increasing the crop production. An EIA report was prepared and recently opened for the public comments. Centre for environmental justice opposed the above project due to massive clearance and inundation of forests and not identifying enough alternatives for the project in the EIA report.

The project will inundate 4044 ha of land upstream of the dam site and the area immediately downstream of the dam will be developed as irrigated lands and resettlement areas.

Approximately 60-70% of the area identified for inundation is covered with natural habitats such as Dry mixed evergreen forests, riverine forests and thorn scrub that shelter many floral and faunal species.(1893 ha of disturbed and undisturbed forests and 735 ha of scrub jungle) Justifying them as degraded forest areas, due to Chena cultivations practiced time to time is not acceptable. In addition to that 810 ha will be cleared for new cultivations and 277 ha for resettlements. At Least 3715 ha of forests will be cleared due to the project.

The project is in close proximity to the Wilpattu National Park, Madu road and Giant tank sanctuaries and many forest reserves. Wilpattu National Park is located approximately 6-8 km to the west of the project affected area.

The proposed resettlement site is located adjacent to the Wilpattu National Park. This will affect the Wilpattu national park and the Wilpattu forest system negatively. This will create an opening for illegal activities such as timber felling, hunting etc.

In addition to that, the proposed elephant corridor runs through the resettlement area separating the land into two. If elephants actually use this corridor there is a high risk of creating a human elephant conflict. Proposed new cultivation areas are also located close to the forest areas where elephants reside and they will come to croplands to eat paddy and other crops. Therefore the project will escalate the human elephant conflict.

The project recommends Department of Wildlife Conservation to establish a new entrance to Wilpattu National Park near Thanthirimale town the by providing infrastructure such as improving the access road to the proposed entrance and establishing the entrance including the proposed buildings.

The purpose of the new entrance is to increase the number of visitations to the park. However we believe that this will bring negative impacts. More vehicles will travel to the park and this will disturb the wildlife activities unnecessarily. Therefore we oppose this suggestion to set up a new entrance to the Wilpattu national park.

Instead of building a large reservoir, rehabilitation of the existing small and medium scale tank system should have been considered as an alternative.

People from the affected area also believe that as an option. In addition to that no any other alternatives have been evaluated such as different areas for resettlement.

The forest cover of the country is being declined day by day. It is our duty to preserve the existing forest cover by all means. Therefore a more voice needs to be raised regarding this project.[END]

ejustice 1.1 - Development Debacles

Development Debacles

Hemantha Withanage (B. Sc)Executive Director

Sri Lanka has got number of failed and controversial projects in the past decade. Norochcholai coal power plant, Hambanthota Harbour, Mattala airport, Uma Oya diversion, Colombo port city to name a few. They cost billions of rupees however do not distribute expected benefits. Perhaps many of them are not required for the country. This unwarranted development or over development is the result of political arrogance of the ruling regimes. 

During the recent conference on the Environmental Impact Assessment held in Colombo, it was revealed that some major development project don’t even have a feasibility study or even a pre-feasibility study.

The developers in both private and public projects expect the EIA process to deal with the feasibility as well. There is no way that EIA teams can fulfil the task of making both feasibility and the Environmental Impact Assessment. The projects this way lack looking in to the more feasible alternatives.

Uma Oya diversion project is a clear example of launching the project without a feasibility study done, during the previous regime.

Addressing the gathering on 29th April 2008 on the occasion of the visit of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Sri Lanka, at Sapugaskanda, Former President Mahinda Rajapaksha said “Two gifts by Iran to Sri Lanka to build Uma Oya reservoir project and a modern oil refinery were the noblest of gifts we have received recently. Sri Lankans are visibly moved by this great gesture said President Mahinda Rajapaksa. A reservoir is the noblest gift one could give the Sri Lankan people.” However, President Ahmadinejad was not able to lay the foundation stone at Uma-Oya due to bad weather conditions. By December 2014, the Iranian gift become a death trap for the villagers in Bandarawela.

Other than the irrigation water to Wellawaya and Hambanthota it was promised to add 120 MW to the generation system with 230 GWh of annual energy generation. It was expected to connect the power plant to the national grid in 2015. The estimated cost of the project is 529 million USD and 85% of the total project cost is provided by the Government of Iran through Export and Development Bank as a loan. By now more than 7000 million rupees have been paid as compensation for the affected communities which is not even 20% of the total damage done by the Uma Oya project. Despite the failure of the project, Sri Lankan citizens will pay this money back to Iran next couple of decades. The project had neither a proper feasibility study nor an acceptable EIA with possible alternatives.

Hambanthota Harbor was built by digging Karagan Levaya which was one of the best lagoons for migratory birds reach in Sri Lanka. Feasibility study for the harbor was rejected by the ministerial task force since the study is not bankable and is not a full feasibility study in 2002.

Yet the project was pushed by the previous regime and it became another white elephant. Total estimated construction cost of the Phase 1 of the project is US $361 million and out of which, 85% has been funded by the EXIM Bank of the People’s Republic of China. Then Sri Lanka Port Authority Chairman boasted that Singapore Ambassador in Sri Lanka when touring the site said: “We’d better find ourselves another job”. Sri Lanka being at the very epicenter of trade routes will be able to accommodate even the largest of ships and cater to their needs. As expected, no shipping line was interested to use the harbor.

In July 2017, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) leased out the Hambantota Port to China Merchant Port for a 99-year period at price of US$ 1.1 billion. The SLPA has built an artificial island in the extent of 110 hectares near Hambantota Port at a cost of over $500 million during the previous Rajapaksa regime. This man-made island which has been built as an entertainment facility was also given to Chinese company.

Colombo Port City is another projects that has detrimental economic, environmental and social implications. This single project developed four EIAs, yet failed to address the real implications due to the high political interests.

These are just few occasions that Department of National planning and the Ministry of Finance did not play its role when screening the suitable projects for the country. As a result, the Sri Lankan public pay heavy cost to pay back unnecessary and illegitimate debts.

Central Environmental Authority failed to stop massive environmental destruction of these projects. It is not necessarily lack of the regulations but due to the serving of political interests. In the recent years CEA lost its grip on environmental conservation. This is mainly due to the politicizing of the top seat.

Sri Lanka’s total net external debt exceeded $50 billion in 2017. Sri Lanka’s large external debt repayments total US$ 4 billion per year between 2019 and 2022. Under the previous government from 2004-2015 has borrowed 5.17 trillion rupees of total loans including 2.16 trillion rupees ($14.06 billion) of foreign loan. According to the Central bank’s latest records show Sri Lanka’s total outstanding debt was 10.3 trillion rupees as of the end of September 2017.

Considering the failed projects such as Mattala Airport, Hambanthota Harbour, Uma Oya diversion and some other partly successful projects such as Moragahakanda, Yan Oya etc., half of the Sri Lanka’s debt could be considered as illegitimate debt.

Illegitimate debt includes loans that: were knowingly given to oppressive regimes and dictators; caused harm to people, environment and communities; violated human rights; violated basic notions and rules of fairness, and basic assumptions of public contracts; violated democratic principles and exploited the vulnerability, impoverishment and misfortune of others. The accumulation of both legitimate and illegitimate debt in Sri Lanka in the recent times have caused enormous pressure on the country and the citizens which often see as tax increase and increase of the price of food and services.

In recent months Sri Lanka has been cited by several politician in other countries and the media as the latest victim of the China debt trap diplomacy. There are many African and Asian countries who struggle to pay the debt accumulated with Chinese investments overseas. China Belt Road Initiative is one of the mechanisms to get countries to this debt trap. However, it is the ruling regimes of each country has the right to engage or avoid.

It is unfortunate that development decisions in Sri Lanka has no much public acceptance or not even referred for public opinion. There is no such an educated voice in the Parliament or such a dialogue happening in the country to select the development we need for the national development.

Unfortunately, development decision making is in the handful of corrupted politicians. The past experience shows bureaucrats have no say on these decisions or either they are corrupt too. It is paramount to correct the system and clean the politics before Sri Lanka get drowned into this deep debt crisis. [END]

ejustice 1.1 - Open letter to the President TIME TO BAN SINGLE USE PLASTICS

Open letter to the President

TIME TO BAN SINGLE USE PLASTICS

Around the World Plastics have become a major threat to the existence of life. Sri Lankan soil, coast line, rivers, lakes have already become the dumping ground to plastic material and microplastics. Our beaches, oceans and ecosystems are very much affected and the beach cleaning and waste management has become a really unaffordable to the nation.

Killing of the ocean will have much negative impacts on the fisher communities around the country. According to the 2010 data Sri Lanka is among the five counties that badly managed its plastics. We are losing tourism due to the dirty beaches around the country.Scientist have found fish and human body already have microplastics which will have serious health impacts unidentified so far. We also know that plastics have become a serious impacts on the wildlife due to the mismanagement of garbage and the contents of the garbage. Wild elephants, Deer, Samba Deer, Wild boar, Cattle, dogs and many other wild and domesticated animals are in great danger.

Plastics also become the breeding grounds for mosquitos and increasing the risk of Dengi and other vector borne diseases.

Burning plastics, especially PVC emits very toxic fumes including Dioxins and Furans which are responsible for lung diseases and Cancer. There is no safe methods of burning plastics in Cement Kilns, Incineration or open air.

We understand that the temporary solutions such as using plastic for the road construction, plastics (eco)bricks etc., continue to increase microplastic in the environment, and do not bring any solution to this problem. It is very clear that there is no 100% effective recycling industry worldwide for plastics.

Packaging industry is responsible for 90 % of the single use plastics 50% of the total plastics around the world and in Sri Lanka.

According to the United Nations Environmental Programme and many other scientists, only nine per cent of the nine billion tonnes of plastic the world has ever produced has been recycled.

Most ends up in landfills, dumps or in the environment. If current consumption patterns and waste management practices continue, then by 2050 there will be around 12 billion tonnes of plastic litter in landfills and the environment.

Most plastics do not biodegrade. Instead, they slowly break down into smaller fragments known as microplastics. Studies suggest that plastic bags and containers made of expanded polystyrene foam (commonly referred to as “Styrofoam”) can take up to thousands of years to decompose, contaminating soil and water.

The most common single-use plastics found in the environment are, in order of magnitude, cigarette butts, plastic drinking bottles, plastic bottle caps, food wrappers, plastic grocery bags, plastic lids, straws and stirrers, other types of plastic bags, and foam take-away containers. These are the waste products of a throwaway culture that treats plastic as a disposable material rather than a valuable resource to be harnessed.

In 2017, government brought regulations to mitigate plastics. However, it has been ineffective and inadequate in many ways. The initiative to ban plastic bags less than 20 microns was not effectively enforced. It is not adequate to resolve this crisis.

Understanding that there is a global crisis related to plastics with no scientific or political solutions exists Centre for Environmental Justice believe that Sri Lanka need to take a more appropriate solution. Understanding that plastic pollution in Sri Lanka do not have a local solution or single solution, Sri Lanka need to implement very stricter approach based on avoid, minimise, mitigate approach and the polluter pays principle.

Therefore we propose immediate ban of single use plastics including plastic bags, lunch sheets, biscuit wrappers, plastic straw, cutlery, yoghurt cups, cotton buds and use of plastic bottle in the water and beverage industry etc. Plastic bottles (PET Bottles) an lids use in the water and soft drink/beverage industry such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Elephant house, American water and many other similar companies is a greater challenge to resolve the plastic crisis.

The data shows that year 2012 huge amount of plastic stoppers, lids and caps have imported to Sri Lanka. These companies are well known for charging heavy cost for the plastic bottles which is very cheap for production. They have promised to use that money for the recycling of the bottles which never happened in the past 2 decades.

These bottles can be easily transferred to glass bottles which was the case before. Therefore we demand that use of plastic bottles in the water and beverage industry should be banned immediately.

The small plastic packets of shampoo, toothpaste, washing powders, Samahan, herbal medicines, also known as Sachet packet and small packets of peanuts etc., has identified as one of the greatest challenge to solve the plastic pollution. Therefore, CEJ demand that all Sachet packets should be completely banned immediately.

We also understood that biscuits wrappers of the Munchee, Maliban and others have become a big part of the plastic pollution. They are even found in the places such as Horton Plains, Sri Pada etc .

Plastics toys have also become a serious plastic polluter in Sri Lanka. They are also contaminated with heavy metals such as lead. Such companies and importers should make accountable for cleaning their plastic waste.

Meanwhile we believe there are sustainable options for the packaging industry based on the natural material, which are not going to be developed without providing a reasonable space in the market.

Based on the polluter pays principle the packaging industries should develop a mechanism to collect all their plastic material and recycle them in an environmentally sound socially responsible manner. Its very urgent to revisit the ban imposed in September 2017 and correct the regulatory measures adopted and build a proper implementation mechanism to impose the regulation.

It is now understood that, even bioplastics derived from renewable sources (such as corn starch, cassava roots, or sugarcane) or from bacterial fermentation of sugar or lipids (PHA) do not decay do not automatically degrade in the environment and especially not in the ocean. Therefore, Sri Lanka should not encourage such bioplastics.

Extended Producer Responsibility is a mechanism accepted worldwide. Such process is widely in operation in other countries by the Transnational corporations operate in Sri Lanka and they should have equal treatment for Sri Lankan environment and people too.

It is highly unacceptable that the green washing of these companies under the Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) initiatives and such other programmes. It is highly unacceptable to mislead and misdefine Extended Producer Responsibility for the corporate interest. Consumer Affairs Authority and the Central Environmental Authority should be accountable for directing the Industries and the corporation towards this process.

There should be an ongoing dialogue to advocate the new approaches and introduction of a suitable model of Extended Producer Responsibility as a national priority for Sri Lanka. The relevant national agencies, Ministries, corporations, Police, CSOs and people should build a partnership to find a sustainable solution for the plastic pollution in the country.

There should be a nationwide awareness to educate people around the country to change their attitude on plastics. We believe that all media should play a role in educating people and change the attitude on the plastics on pro bono basis.

CEJ believe that Sri Lanka should play a critical role to manage plastics as part of the global effort to manage increasing plastic crisis in the world. It is also important to completely ban importation of plastic waste for Waste to Energy plants, landfilling or reuse.

Sri Lanka government should support the international efforts to bring plastic waste under Basal convention so that it will be treated as a hazardous waste and handle with care. CEJ believes discouraging overproduction, banning single use plastics, bring legislations to regulate plastic production and usage, look for alternatives to the plastics and get public support through awareness is the way forward to minimize the plastic pollution in Sri Lanka and around the world.[END]

ejustice 1.1 - Editorial- Environmentalism

EDITORIAL

Environmentalism

One can see that dozens of environmental struggles are happening on the streets. Sometime thousands of activists join them. Perhaps one will think this could be the best time of the environmental movement in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately not. The truth is many others are fighting invisible local environmental struggles. They lack strength, popular support and most ends with no victory.

Some blame that the environmental movement has been hijacked by the racist movement. I believe it is not true. When there is a mass movement its obvious various fractions come together with different interests. It’s not easy to build a clean movement when there are thousand of people coming together with diverse opinions. If you are successful you will definitely win the struggle.

Environmentalism is an evolving concept. It is hard to give a definition for an environmentalist. Same time some one who devote his or her time for protection of environmental rights of own species, fights for the rights to life of other species and habitats and broadly the health of the planet are considered as environmentalists.

Such environmentalist cannot be a racist. But we know in the real world some fighting for water, land rights are sometime deny access to water and land for some other communities. It’s too complex to understand who is right.

Recently, a major conservation organisation has been accused for paying the forest guards who engage in torturing local people to stop entering the forests in Nepal. It is certainly against environmental justice concept.

Local people are the owners of the natural resource located in their surroundings. They have right to land, right to natural resources and to decide how they can consume. There is very delicate balance between the conservation and the rights of the local communities. It is best if the local people become the conservationists.

To do this everyone need to understand the importance of nature and other life forms equal to our own. This does not happen when others consume more and more resources by force.

In todays world, governments, corporation and powerful engage in looting such community resources and leave pollution for the local people. This is the result of capitalism. There is no environmentalism without understanding how the neoliberal model works and fighting against it.

Therefore ones environmentalism should focus more and more on justice, equity and democracy. Unwise environmentalism might bring more harm rather than protection.

Editorial team