Can Sri lanka reduce marine pollution by 2025?

COLOMBO (News1st): Sri Lanka has faced multiple disasters in its waters over the last few years. This has created questions on whether the government can reduce marine pollution. The Singaporean X-Press Pearl ship sunk in June causing massive damage. Plastic pellets from the ship have washed ashore or ended up inside fishes. Sri Lanka has to reduce marine pollution by 2025. That is part of the Sustainable Development Goals. But experts say pollution is on the rise. "Waste management is important. There are some rules and regulations. But what we need is proper application at grassroot levels," Prof. Terney Pradeep Kumara, a marine scientist said. 1.6 million plastic items were found within a kilometer on Sri Lanka's coast in 2018. The recent disaster means more trouble. "It's very difficult to say if Sri Lanka can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Because you will have events which will happen," Charitha Pattiaratchi, a professor of coastal Oceanography at the University of Western Australia said.