Minister wants sand sans environmental damage

Extra caution needs to be exercised not to harm the environment and to adhere to the rules and regulations laid down by Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, when mining sand, said Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda.

The Minister was addressing the people at the Community Hall in the Amban Village in Vadamarachchi East recently.

The meeting was held to sort out the problems faced by the people of Amban, Kudaththanai and Nagarkovil Villages. Their main livelihood is supplying sand for the booming construction industry in the Northern Province.

Minister Devananda said sand was an important building material which was in high demand in the Northern Province because of accelerated development activities. He said strict action would be taken against those who violate the laws and harm the environment. He said the agenda of anti-government politicians had been to paralyze on-going development activities.

Their politics had been to cause inconvenience to the public for their political mileage, he said.

The minister, hearing complaints from the public about reckless drivers, instructed the police to implement the law strictly on such drivers.