Environmental Programme at St Stephens’ Church, Negombo

An Environmental programme was held on Saturday 21^st July 2018 by the Commission for Environment and Medical Ethics (CEMET) at St Stephens’ church, Negombo.  There were 38 participants which included 7 children. The members of CEMET who participated were Dr. Rohantha Periyaperuma , Ms Sudeni Perera and Ms. Sharmini Wickramaratne 

First Dr. Rohantha did a presentation on the Biblical interpretation of our responsibility to the Environment. Ms. Sudeni then spoke on responsibility as a family towards protecting the environment. After some discussion and a tea break, an officer from the Waste Management Authority (WP) Ms. Nadishanee - who is responsible for the Negombo region, did a presentation on the problems associated with ad-hoc disposal of waste and the importance of waste segregation. She explained about the composting process and how it could be done.  She also informed the group about what was done with the waste they generated and the actions they should take when they have environmental problems. She also went on to say that as there was very limited space in the Western province for garbage dumps, everyone was requested to minimize their waste. This presentation was followed by the PHI Mr. Gooneratne giving a lecture on how health problems in the area were tackled.

There was then a discussion about the problems faced.  

Rev Jeyaraj also spoke about the solid waste dredged from the lagoon being dumped on the lagoon banks near the church.

While the above programme was going on for the adults, Ms. Sudeni and her staff from the Board of Christian Education ran a separate programme for the children. The children were told about the importance of planting trees and they planted budded fruit plants. They also drew pictures about the environment.

We hope and pray that this programme will be the start of many more activities towards protecting the environment and solving the environmental problems in the Negombo area. 

We are thankful to Rev Jeyaraj and Mr Suren Goonesekera for inviting CEMET to have this programme.