President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has directed officials to strengthen efforts to safeguard Sri Lanka’s rapidly developing Northern and Eastern coastlines, while ordering stricter legal action against unauthorized coastal constructions that threaten the country’s coastal environment.
The directives were issued during a progress review meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday (22), where the President assessed the implementation of projects funded under the 2026 Budget for the Ministry of Environment and discussed priorities for the 2027 Budget.
Emphasizing the need for long-term coastal protection, the President instructed officials to establish a steering committee to oversee coastal conservation initiatives and ensure effective monitoring of development activities.
He also ordered the appointment of an expert committee to study coastal erosion along the Oluvil coastline and submit recommendations as soon as possible to support future mitigation efforts.
The meeting reviewed the implementation of environmental projects under the national programme, “A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life, A Sustainable Biosphere – A Green Life,” which has been allocated Rs. 19.7 billion under the 2026 Budget.
Progress reports were presented by several institutions under the Ministry of Environment, including the Central Environmental Authority, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Forest Department, Department of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management, Marine Environment Protection Authority, Department of National Zoological Gardens, Department of National Botanic Gardens, and the Water Resources Board.
The President also focused on the implementation of projects aimed at mitigating the human-elephant conflict, stressing that delays in executing these initiatives pose a serious risk to public safety.
He noted that with budgetary allocations already in place, the slow progress of these projects was unacceptable and instructed officials to accelerate implementation without further delay.
