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by Florence Wickramage

The Government of Sri Lanka is committed to the task of making every effort to protect the Ozone Layer from further depletion and the Government's commitment is reflected in the fact that our country is the first nation in Asia selected by the UNDP for monetary assistance for implementation of the strategic plan of the Montreal Protocol, Minister of Plantation Industries Laxman Kiriella said yesterday.

The Minister was addressing the inaugural session of the two day International Conference on Methyl Bromide Substitutes for Tea, organised jointly by the Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka and the UNDP at the Hotel Lanka Oberoi in Colombo.

For Sri Lanka, tea is the highest net foreign exchange earner, although to the rest of the world, it is the cheapest and the best drink next to water. Therefore, it was necessary to maintain productivity levels. The Plantation Ministry has been in close communication with the implementing agency, the TRI right throughout the project period and research work that was being discussed at the Conference has contributed towards safeguarding the interests of the tea industry, Minister Kiriella said.

In a message sent to the Conference Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Rukman Senanayake said that "Sri Lanka along with the other nations in the world has taken every possible measure to minimize the environmental impacts created due to human activities".

Minister Rukman Senanayake pointed out that Methyl Bromide, a broad spectrum pesticide, has been identified as an Ozone depleting substance and is being widely used in the tea plantation sector. According to the Montreal Protocol Obligations, Sri Lanka is required to phase out Methyl Bromide by the year 2015. Keeping in mind the Protocol obligations and most importantly our responsibilities towards the future generations, the Ministry of Environment through the Montreal Protocol Unit has initiated actions on the problem. Therefore the Ministry invited the Tea Research Institute to join in to develop a project proposal to research and put in place alternatives to Methyl Bromide for the phasing out of its use in the tea sector in Sri Lanka.

The TRI has come up with innovative and practical alternatives to Methyl Bromide and one of the objectives of this project was to recommend regulatory and other measures that the Government of Sri Lanka could adopt to ensure the phasing out of the use of Methyl Bromide, Minister Senanayake said.

The inaugural session was also addressed by Mr. K.A.S. Gunasekera, Secretary, Ministry of Plantation Industries and Mrs. Sarwar Sultana of the UNDP while the Keynote address was delivered by Dr. W.W.D. Modder, Director of the Tea Research Institute.

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