Country needs balance between economic and environment development - Prof Gunawansa

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

The country needs to strike the right balance between economic development and environment development to sustain harmony. National University of Singapore (NUS) Adjunct Assistant Professor Asanga Gunawansa said making a presentation at a seminar on Environment Management Challenges and Approaches in Sri Lanka and Singapore in Colombo last week.

Prof Ofori, Associate Professor Lye Lin Heng and Dr Asanga Gunawansa at the seminar. Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

He said Sri Lanka has a clear policy in the ten year development plan for sustainable development but is still not prepared sufficiently to meet the challenges of global climate change.

It is important to implement what has been discussed without delay. However,the country should focus more on the service sector as investors will come to the country only if they have all infrastructure and other facilities.

NUS Prof George Ofori said that the competencies required to deal with the environmental challenges lie in broad range of fields of knowledge.

They range from the ability to formulate good policies and laws, good understanding of the science resource people use and the waste they produce, knowledge of properties and certain other things.

Referring to the environment challenges faced in the Asia Region he said the global environmental issues include climate change, depletion of resources and production of excessive waste.

Other issues include deforestation and desertification leading to loss of biodiversity; and health hazards from various forms of pollution.

The main concerns in the Asia region include increasing population at the same time as rising urbanization, with Asia having some of the largest concentrations of urban populations.

This brings with itself the need for creating an adequate physical infrastructure to provide for the basic requirements of humans in terms of housing, water, power, transportation and sanitation.

The seminar was conducted to promote the MSc in Environment Management (MEM) and Chairperson MEM program management committee ,Lye Lin Heng said it is a unique program jointly supported by six faculties of NUS.