Insufficient tech to detect ships releasing waste to the sea : Marine Environment Protection Authority

COLOMBO (News1st):- The Marine Environment Protection Authority has said that their attempt to prevent the disposal of garbage and wastewater from ships travelling across the Sri Lankan seas have been hampered. The Authority said that this was due to the fact that there is no satellite coverage to monitor the country's ocean area. Although the information had come to light that waste was being disposed into Sri Lankan waters from these ships, Sri Lanka is not equipped with the necessary technology to identify the perpetrators and bring this to an end. The General Manager of the Marine Environment Protection Authority, Professor Terney Pradeep Kumara says that in 2015 Sri Lanka's coastal line was named as the 5th most polluted shore by an international magazine which is not good for the country. He further says that since it is in the night that it is hard for them to detect which ships dump the garbage. However, he says that discussions are ongoing on how the satellite technology could be used for the matter. He added that since 350-400 ships pass by every day that the best thing to use for the purpose is satellite technology. Also speaking on the matter Environmentalist Thusitha Jayawardena said that they deployed a team of divers where they discovered that the ocean is highly polluted with a massive amount of plastic bottles, glass bottles and old footwear that was found from the bottom of the ocean. He said that this kind of material is toxic to the fish in the sea. Marine experts also point out that improper disposal of garbage from countries in the region also piles up in the ocean surrounding Sri Lanka.