Legal and administrative steps would be taken by the government shortly to prohibit the import of tree cutting machines, chainsaws, mechanical saws and the carpenter sheds popularly known as ‘wadu maduwa’, in a bid to protect the environment - in particular, the forest density of the country, President Maithripala Sirisena declared today.
He added that people would have to import furniture as deforestation and tree cutting would be banned fully.
Delivering the keynote address at a ceremony held to mark ‘World Environment Day 2019’ under the theme, ‘Minimising of air pollution through sustainable forest management’ at the BMICH last morning, President Sirisena went on to say that if these measures were taken and implemented for ten years, the forest density of Sri Lanka could be increased to an environment friendly 32% from the current not so satisfactory 28%. “A few months ago, I went to a funeral house at Kurunegala. A poor looking old person approached me and asked, ‘Sir you are the Environment Minister?’ and I said ‘yes’. He again said you work hard to protect the environment and forests, don’t you? Yes, no one can cut trees without my permission, I said.
