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Listen to "Parisra Sirisra" every morning at 5.50 am at SLBC
CEJ launched two new pojects
Colombo , Sri Lanka . 1st January 2012. Centre for Environmental Justice launched 2 new project in 2012. A chemical awareness project was launched with the support of the GEF-Small Grant Programme to educate public on wise chemical management and to promote Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management (SAICM). Another project was launched with the support of Simennppu Foundation to educate people on Environmnetal Impacts Assessment .
 
Mandatory Lead in paint standards gazetted

Colombo , Sri Lanka . 12 th October 2011. The Consumer Affairs Authority has been published the standards for lead in Paints as a responding to the Fundamental Rights application filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) in the Supreme Court , Sri Lanka, on 14 th February 2011 seeking the Consumer Affairs Authority and others to formulate suitable regulations to compel the manufacturers and distributors to comply with the international standards relating to the presence of Lead in paints considering the serious health impacts caused by adding lead to decorative paints.

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Arsenic in pesticides- Court of Appeal Issued Notice

Colombo, 05 th August 2011- Today court of appeal issues notice to the Registrar of Pesticides and other respondents considering the case filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) regarding the Arsenic in Pesticides. Counsel Mr. Ravindranath Dabare submitted that there were no actions taken by the Registrar of Pesticides to bring the violators to the legal process although ROP accepted that they found 9 pesticides with significant amount of Arsenic. No Arsenic can constitute in the Pesticides according to the regulations under the Pesticides Act.

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Please Move the Commonwealth Games out of Sri Lanka Wilderness

Sri Lanka is bidding for the Commonwealth Games 2018 with the Gold Coast, Australia. Authorities are making plans to create a massive games park and hotels around Hambantota where our best wildlife parks are located. We believe that this will destroy many wildlife habitats including elephant’s. Government is getting ready to amend the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance to permit building in the nature park buffer zones in the name of development.

We are not against bringing Commonwealth games to Sri Lanka. But please don't destroy all our wildlife habitats in the name of development. Please appeal to His Excellency the President to move this Game village out of our very fragile wildlife habitats i.e. Yala, Bundala, Weeravila.

 
Double standard of the paint Industry

Toxicks Link once again found high levels of lead(Pb) in some of the biggest paint brands. According to the report over 63 percent of the paint samples studied in India, Nepal and Bangladesh had lead content above 90 parts per million (ppm) permissable in the US. Alarmingly, in 44 percent of the samples, the content exceeded 1,000 ppm limit in India. According to Ravi Agarwal the tests revealed that some companies are following the standards of lead concentration in India but the same companies are manufacturing paints with high lead concentration and sending to Nepal and Bangladesh.Overall, all shades of yellow and orange have been found to contain the maximum lead concentration with a cumulative average of 48,500ppm across brands.

Read the full report

 
Open Forum on Arsenic contamination of Pesticides in Sri Lanka

An Open Forum on Arsenic contamination of the pesticides will be held on July 7, 2011 at the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agriculture Research and Training Institute, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7 at 9.30 pm. This will be organised by Vikalpanie and other Civil Society organisation. A team of researchers from the Kelaniya and Rajarata Universities found that high levels of Arsenic in number of pesticides. They claim that Chronic Kidney failure found in Rajarata is due to Calcium Arsenate as a result of these pesticides. However, researchers in University of Peradeniya says that the kidney failure is due to high levels of Cadmium in Fertilizer.

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CEJ celebrated World Environment Day 2011 in Dehiatthakandiya

Centre for Environmental Justice/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka will celebrate 2011 World Environment Day in Dehiatthakandiya together with the Divisional Secretariat and the Civil society organizations in the area. An essay and art competition, Environment camp and an Exhibition wase held on 5th and 6th May 2011. More than 4000 people and students visited the exhibition.The Environment Day theme this year is Forests: Nature at Your Service. This is to complement the UN International Year of Forests.

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  Uma Oya project has been approved based on a faulty EIA
 

Centre for Environmental Justice/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka is very concern about the approval of the Uma Oya Multipurpose project based on a faulty EIA. We believe that the recommendations given in the EIA is not based on the true cost and benefits. It shows that energy benefits have overstated the environmental cost has underestimated. The recommendations also not based on the adequately considered alternatives and the environmental impacts. We believe the government of Sri Lanka has lost the opportunity to benefit from the EIA process in the case of Uma Oya Diversion. The project has been approved on 12th April 2011.

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STOP LAND GRABBING


friends of the earth international is the world's largest grassroots environmental network. FOEI will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2011.

 

Lead is a deadly heavy metal. Decorative paints contain leaded raw material. Now unleaded paint is available in the market. Read more


4th South Asian Conference on Sanitation will be held in April 4-8 in Hotel Cinnamon Grand. Civil Society Conference on Sanitation will be held from 1-2 April 2011. Read more

 
Climate change has made severe impacts to the poor. But it is due to the lifestyle of the rich and mostly rich nations. It is necessary to safeguard poor from these negative impacts and include them in all climate plans. Read More

 
Read blogs from Hemantha Withanage
 
Friends of the Earth International.... Friends of The Earth International
 

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Nuclear Free Asia
 
Nuclear Free Asia Nuclear Free Wold is a demand of the Friends of the Asia Asia- Pacific in our campaign launched in July 2011.
 

Flicker Photostream Hemantha Withanage
Flicker Photo stream Friends of the Earth International
 

justice- Quarterly News Magazine
 

Sri Lanka is planning to build a nuclear power plant by 2025. Do we need to generate power from Nuclear sources. Read more.

 
Case on Arsenic pesticides - against the Pesticide Registrar and others
Soragune Golf Course- against the Central Environmental Authority and others
 
Colombo Floodsss- Colombo was flodded 3 times in 2010. CEJ filed a lawsuit in the Western Provincial High Court seeking a proper plan and removal of all blockades.
 
           
           

Campaigns

  • No Lead in Paint
  • Mercury free hospitals
  • Stop PCB contaminated items
  • Don't Nuke Sri Lanka

Recent Cases

  • Case on Colombo Flooding
  • MC case against a service station in Maharagama

Things you can do

  • Be a green!
  • Ask your Minister not to Nuke Sri Lanka
  • Stop Buying Leaded paint. Ask for lead free paint!
  • Drink Tap water. Its more safe.
  • Beware of cosmetics. Some may contain lead or Mercury!
  • Save Energy! Insted CFL bulbs look for LED bulbs.
  • Keep old CFL bulbs away from your kids. It contains Hg.
Copyright © Centre for Environmental Justice                     Last updated January 21, 2012