News

Over 200 schools to receive Australian funding via FAO

Published

3 years ago

2023/01/28

Over 200 schools will receive funding from Australia, via the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to build entrepreneurial school gardens in, to support nutritional security among children.

The entrepreneurial school gardens programme, implemented as part of a project, funded by the Australian governmen,t totalling over USD 2.3 million, is aimed at improving the food and nutritional security of groups most affected by the ongoing economic crisis, particularly women and children.

The programme features a discovery-based learning approach for over 100,000 secondary school, students from grades 8 – 12, where they will be educated on the capacity to transform their school gardens into sources of nutritious produce that will facilitate diverse and healthy eating habits and encourage students to apply entrepreneurial thinking into agriculture. Teachers, from 505 schools, from the three provinces, were also trained on the discovery-based learning methodology, as part of the programme, to improve skills in food security, nutrition, agriculture and entrepreneurship.

The Agriculture club, in each school, will be empowered to operate as a core programme partner that will oversee the coordination and navigation of the programme, alongside school officials. It will also oversee the sale of harvests from the gardens, and will be linked to sales points, including private sector organisations, parents of students, local markets, or the national school meal programme, via FAO, to ensure the harvests of the gardens generate an income – thereby ensuring the sustainability of the gardens beyond the project period.

Australia’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Paul Stephens said, “School gardening has the potential to both improve children’s health and support learning. Involving students in school gardening and teaching them about the benefits of nutrition can have a lasting impact. This programme is helping to highlight the value of growing food for household food security.”

“We are appreciative of this generous assistance from the people of Australia, which has enabled this sustainable school-to-home knowledge transfer approach to strengthen food security among school children,” said FAO Representative in Sri Lanka, Vimlendra Sharan, adding, “School gardens offer rich environments for children to engage in active learning. The knowledge will be transferred through students to their family members and by extension, to the communities, prompting an attitudinal change on food consumption habits and new agricultural concepts.”

FAO will work closely with the Ministry of Education, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and the Chief Secretariat of the Uva, Central and Northern provinces, to educate children and faculty on eco-friendly agricultural practices and nutrition.

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News

Implementation of water supply projects in small town and rural areas.

Published

6 hours ago

2026/06/3

Priyan

Access to safe drinking water for populations residing in small towns and rural areas of Sri Lanka has not yet been fully ensured, and this continues to pose a major challenge to the country’s social and economic development.

With a view to overcome this situation, a programme has been planned to provide clean drinking water to approximately 600,000 families living in semi-urban and rural areas through the implementation of 300 projects covering 50 small towns and rural areas.

The projects are aimed at establishing safe, reliable and sustainable drinking water supply systems, with water to be treated through modern purification technologies, including chlorination and filtration systems, in conformity with national and international drinking water standards.

Accordingly, having considered the resolution furnished by the Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the implementation of the proposed programme by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board and the National Community Water Supply Department during the period 2027–2029, subject to the conduct of a feasibility study on the proposed programme and inclusion in the Public Investment Programme based on its outcome.

News

Cabinet nod to submit Import and Export (Control) Regulations No. 04 of 2026 to Parliament for its concurrence

Published

7 hours ago

2026/06/3

Priyan

Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which are chemical compounds widely used in refrigerators and air conditioning units, are being globally phased out under the Montreal Protocol due to their high potential for ozone layer depletion and global warming.

Sri Lanka has likewise committed to phasing out these chemical substances by the year 2030 in a stepwise manner. Accordingly,
regulations under the Import and Export (Control) Act, No. 1 of 1969, namely the Import and Export (Control) Regulations No. 04 of 2026, published in Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. 2487/29 dated 2026-05-07, have been issued, prohibiting, with effect from 2026-06-06, the importation of equipment and appliances that operate solely on hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and prohibiting, with effect from 2028-01-01, the importation of compressors used as components in refrigeration systems of equipment and appliances that operate solely on hydrochlorofluorocarbons.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as
the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to submit the aforementioned Regulations to Parliament for its concurrence.

News

Declaration of Elephant Migratory Corridors to minimize HEC in Monaragala and Hambantota districts

Published

7 hours ago

2026/06/3

Priyan

Wild elephants inhabit approximately two-thirds of the land area of Sri Lanka, and it has been identified that the rapid obstruction of elephant habitats and migratory corridors due to various development projects and human activities has directly contributed to the escalation of human–elephant conflict.

It has been recognised that, in order to mitigate such conflict to a certain extent, the protection of wild elephant habitats and migratory corridors must be undertaken as a matter of urgency.

The Department of Wildlife Conservation is currently engaged in identifying wild elephant migratory corridors in collaboration with relevant Divisional Secretaries, stakeholder agencies, and organisations.

Under the Wild Elephant Migratory Corridor Identification Programme in Monaragala District, the Wild Elephant Migratory Corridor from Handapanagala to Demodara
across Menik Ganga (River Menik) up to Yala National Park has been identified, and approval has been granted by the Monaragala District Coordinating Committee for that.

The Elephant Migratory Corridor from Yala National Park’s Zone VI -Lunugamvehera National Park to Udawalawe National Park has already been declared as the Wetahira Kanda Nature Reserve in 2002.

Within this area, five (05) licensed land plots have been identified, and these lands have not yet been developed.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Environment to take the following measures:

To declare, under the provisions of the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance, the elephant migratory corridor from Handapanagala in Monaragala District to Demodara across Menik Ganga up to Yala National Park as a sanctuary.

To provide alternative land outside the wildlife reserve area in lieu of the five (05) licensed land plots located within the Wetahira Kanda Nature Reserve area, and to re-declare the Wetahira Kanda Nature Reserve as an elephant migratory corridor.

To acquire, upon payment of compensation, land parcels containing buildings constructed in a manner that obstruct the Koholankala elephant corridor in the Hambantota District, and to declare the relevant area of the Hambantota Wild Elephant Management Reserve as a sanctuary.