Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2018-03-06

Obtaining suitable lands to Local Authorities for Solid Waste Management

- The Local Authorities are faced with the difficulty of obtaining suitable lands in disposing of solid waste for Solid Waste Management adopting environmentally friendly methods. Even though lands have been released to some Local Government Authorities for disposing of waste, the development of those lands as sanitary landfills has been barred due to non-awarding of the legal ownership of those lands.

Therefore, as agreed to by at the discussion held on this matter with the participation of all relevant stakeholders, the joint proposal made by Hon. Navin Dissanayake, the Minister of Plantation Industries, Hon. Gayantha Karunathilaka, the Minister of Lands and Parliamentary Reforms and Hon. Faiszer Musthapha, the Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government to formally vest the lands already set apart to the relevant Local Government Authorities for disposing of waste and to acquire the land lots belonging to the Land Reform Commission and the State Plantation Corporation and those possessed by the Regional Plantation Companies on long term lease basis under the Land Acquisition Act, which has been found as suitable for the disposal of waste by developing them as sanitary land fills and to allocate the same over to the Local Government Authorities, was approved by the Cabinet.