Garbage collection costs CMC Rs 2.1m a day

Parliament Correspondent

The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) spends over Rs 2.1 million a day on garbage collection, Parliament was told yesterday.

No charge is levied for the collection of garbage from houses but a tax is levied from commercial institutions, Local Government and Provincial Councils Deputy Minister Indika Bandaranayake said in response to a question raised by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake.

The Deputy Minister said around 700 metric tonnes of garbage are collected in the CMC area per day.

Three private companies are involved in garbage collection. They are Burnes Trading Pvt Ltd, Care Clean Pvt Ltd and Abans Environment Services Pvt Ltd.

The cost of collection of garbage in the Sri Jayawardenepura Municipal Council area is Rs 320,000 per day, Maharagama Urban Council area Rs 115,594 per day, Moratuwa Municipal Council area Rs 29,239 per day and Dehiwala - Mount Lavinia Municipal Council area Rs 604,181 per day, the Deputy Minister said.