LTTE's polythene ban in Vanni earns plaudits

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2003, 16:07 GMT]
The ban on Polythene use in the Vanni by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has heartened the Environmental movement in Sri Lanka, said Dr. (Ms.) Ajantha Perera, the head of the project for solid waste recycling in Sri Lanka, in a press statement, the Jaffna-based Tamil language daily, Uthayan, reported Monday.

Ms. Perera said that her repeated attempts to limit the use of polythene products in the country has failed in the past.

Her statement said:

“When people buy products at shops and common markets, the products are sold in polythene bags. The consumers later either use these bags to deposit their daily waste or just throw them away, which then get buried in the soil.

“Because polythene bags are not destroyed by chemical and biological reactions, the bags prevent normal chemical reactions of the soil, thus depriving its fertility.

“As these bags clog the sewage canals, waste water stagnates and leads to the growth of mosquito menace. Burning polythene bags results in unhealthy gases that could cause illnesses to people.

“As these polythene bags are imported from abroad, the local industry that produces bags locally by traditional means is greatly affected.

“The environmentally conscious people of the country have been waiting for a long time for action to limit the use of polythene bags. They are heartened by the LTTE’s ban on polythene use in the Vanni.

“Other local leaders should come forward to limit polythene use in their respective areas and encourage the use of traditional bags that do not cause environmental hazards.”