Colombo Scout camporee begins

Ishara Mudugamuwa

The annual Colombo Scout Camporee will be held from August 23 to 27 at Viharamaha Devi Park with the participation of 5,000 scouts.

Addressing the media yesterday at the Colombo City Hotel, Camporee Organizing Commissioner Darshana Ranatunga said that 2012 is a significant year to all Sri Lankan scouts as we celebrated the completion of 100 years of scouting in the county.

Colombo scouts will celebrate its centenary in 2014.

"Presently there are around 47,000 scouts in the country and the Association plans to increase this up to 0.1 million by the end of 2013.

This is the 49th Camporee the Colombo District has organized.

It began in 1949 when Capt. Vernon Halpe who was then a teacher at Royal Primary school together with Mr.Aliossen, held the first in this series at the Royal Primary school.

"This year's theme of the Camporee is 'Passion for the Environment'.

There are many environmental challenges today, than when scouting first started. It is even more important to keep the environment central to scouting today to build on the momentum already established and to make scouting a positive force for change. As we look in to the future the biggest threat to our existence is the threat to the environment," Organizing Commissioner said.

He also said that the environment is central to the scout programme and a key element of developing good citizens.

Since scouting began, young people have been interacting with the outdoors, learning from nature and taking positive action for their local and global environment.

The Sri Lanka Scouts Association will launch the World Scout Environment Programme in Sri Lanka on August 24 at the opening ceremony.