Sri Lanka will convert two large garbage dumps here into urban parks next year as part of a city beautification programme, a minister announced on Tuesday.
Addressing the Colombo City Beautification Awards Ceremony in Colombo, Megapolis and Western Development Minister Champika Ranawaka said that garbage could no longer be dumped at the Meethotamulla or Bloemendhal garbage mountains and plans were afoot to construct a large scale national landfill site in Aruwakkaluwa in Puttalam, to address the government's garbage disposal issue, reports Xinhua news agency.
Ranawaka said that all steps would also be taken to ensure that no harm is caused to the environment when constructing the Aruwakkaluwa sanitary landfill.
With no proper garbage disposal in place, garbage from the capital was dumped at the Meethotamulla Garbage mountain for years with some environmentalists claiming that nearly 800 tons of solid waste was added daily.
--IANS
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