On December 26, 2004 Sri Lanka and a few other countries in the region faced the destructive power of nature. The tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean left about 300,000 people dead. This disaster also demonstrated the regenerative power of human compassion. Sri Lanka became just one household where everyone who was not affected did his/her utmost to provide relief to those affected.

The government has decided to introduce community farming for the displaced people who arrive in Vavuniya from conflict areas, and a 100-acre extent of land had been earmarked for this purpose, a top official in Vavuniya said yesterday.

Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, said an unprecedented anti-malaria campaign was underway in Sri Lanka. He said affected countries, NGOs, donor governments, researchers and international agencies were joining hands to control and eventually eradicate this scourge from the globe.

It is thought that around 5000 hectares of paddy fields in the Uva region have been devastated due to the prolonged drought in the Maha season this year.

Thousands of families in the Southern province depending on the coir industry have lost their livelihood due to the shortage of coconut husks.

They said the fragmentation of coconut estates as housing blocks and tsunami sites has resulted in this state of affairs and that the devastation caused by the tsunami further aggravated the situation.

The residents of Kekirawa are perturbed over the on going destruction of Kossokanda state forest in Maradankadawala by an organized group of timber racketeers under political patronage.

Referring to the garbage crisis in the Colombo City, the Former Opposition Leader of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) Vasudeva Nanayakkara charged yesterday that no one is taking steps to stop the thuggery of Minister Mervyn Silva who had stopped dumping of garbage in Peliyagoda.

There will be climate related conflicts in the future if the global community fails to protect the ozone layer, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Champika Ranawaka said inaugurating the sub regional workshop on Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) pase out in military applications, yesterday.

John Keells Office Automation Limited (JKOA) recently announced the island-wide launch of its flagship environmental campaign, "Go Green". The announcement was made at a seminar jointly organised by JKOA and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), with the full patronage of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) at CEA Auditorium.

Barrack plain reservoir in Nuwara Eliya constructed by the British rulers in 1885 to provide irrigational facilities to the Uva Paranagama area is in ruins due to neglect and misuse.