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| Friday, 3 December 2004 |
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Coir products - solution for soil erosion and flood control - Fowzie by Shirajiv Sirimane Coir-based products are the ideal solution for soil erosion and flood control and can easily replace cement and sand, said the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources A. H. M. Fowzie. He was speaking at a seminar on Erosion Control in Sri Lanka using Coir based Geo textiles organised by Eco Protect Engineering, a subsidiary of MultiChemi Group at the Trans Asia last week. He said that the subject of sand has now turned out to be a controversial subject for the construction industry, business community and for environmentalists. "This is because we have been over using our natural resources particularly sand. This has been causing many environmental problems while the sand resources have been fast depleting " he said. As far as the environment is concerned, slope protection is very important or else it could result in earthslips which may destabilise the business environment," he said. "In this context I am happy that the private sector has come forward to introduce an eco-friendly erosion control system. Coir is manufactured locally as a cottage industry without generating chemical waste and greenhouse gases. Today these coir erosion controlled products are made in Sri Lanka and exported for erosion control purposes in other countries while our slopes are basically left unprotected. This venture would not only ensure technology transfer but would also ensure the value addition to the local coir products which is a prime requirement identified in our government's budget," he said. Visiting Bio Engineering export from the Philippines, Dr. Justin R. Arboleda said that it's ironic to note that no local manufactured coir based products are used for soil conservation by the government and the private sector. "Coir based products are being exported to Korea and Japan," he said. He said that coconut fibre dust is being used by the Japanese to grow special plants on railway tunnels to absorb erosion while the Gulf use to grow plants in the desert. "the UNDP is helping in this project," he said. He said that the government and private sector has now launched a program to develop water tanks and this coir based material would be ideal to check soil erosion. Coir had been extensively used in the 1960s and with the introduction of polythene and synthetic material coir was ignored. "However today the demand for coir based products is increasing and since Sri Lanka has a strong agri-based economy, more emphasis should be given to develop this area. Eco Protect Engineering Ltd has taken the initiative in this regard and is the first company to design and install Eco friendly erosion control systems to Sri Lanka. M. C. Enterprises Ltd, Ambalangoda Managing Director C. Soysa said that they have a very good export market to Korea and Japan. "Unfortunately we do not have a local demand for this," he said. |
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