By Tharumalee Silva In the heat of the presidential election, promises are being made to conduct clean election campaigns that will pose no harm or threat to the environment. This week, The Sunday Morning obtained the views of the public regarding their perception of the anti-plastic, anti-polythene reform. While many thought that this reform moves the country in a positive direction, others questioned its implementation.

Policies not being enforced

Environmental lawyer – Jagath Gunawardena I have three things I wish to express in relation to this topic. Firstly, there are laws in Sri Lanka which have been put forward by the Environmental Authority and the Election Commission that deals with environmental pollution. If we adhere to these rules and regulations and these are properly implemented, we would not even have to discuss this issue at present. Secondly, if the politicians preaching that they will adopt these measures do so in reality, these issues won’t be surfacing. Thirdly, since both of the aforementioned requirements are not being fulfilled, there will be no harm if the Election Commission takes a step towards introducing it themselves. I can’t be fully satisfied with the policies they’re bringing forward now because if we adhered to the existing laws, we would not have to be implementing this in the first place. What we can clearly see here is that the candidates competing for presidential elections this year do not care about the environment. Hence, as environmentalists, we cannot be fully satisfied.

In spite of banning plastic, we still dispose of two tonnes

Environmentalist – Nayanaka Ranwella Our politicians lack the IQ and general knowledge, so even if they tell us that they are carrying out clean election campaigns, we cannot believe them. First, we must educate the general public by compelling the public to refrain from voting for the candidate who uses and comes up with environmentally destructive campaigns. We need to build our society and educate our people to that level. I do not think politicians themselves will come up with these initiatives to actually do good for the country – they do not have the brains to do so. We must move forward as a country when dealing with these issues instead of being backward. Our politicians must think outside the box. In the case of Singapore and many other countries, their politicians are forward-thinking and open-minded. Similarly, we must move forward instead of backwards. If we can educate the general public, the politicians will at least feel as if they need to make the right decisions and implement correct policies. If this does not happen and if we continue to just talk about it, I do not think we have much hope for the country in this regard. As a country which banned polythene, we still dump a large amount of polythene into the ocean annually. If we are to combat this issue, we must educate the public and our politicians must make strong policies; otherwise, we cannot move forward.

Majority of politicians have no concern for the environment

Former cartoon journalist – Sripali Rathnayaka To my knowledge, the only politician who actually carried out environmentally friendly methods of campaigning was Parliamentarian Dullas Alahapperuma – there may have been a few after that but the majority of our representatives have no concern for the environment. Carrying out this task in a country like Sri Lanka is definitely not easy since our politicians do not do what they say they will do or tell us what they really do. From my experience, we should never believe what these politicians say and personally, I think if politicians are really genuine and if they really do love our country as much as they say they do, they will take care to take on this initiative – and they haven’t. It is deeply saddening that these candidates wait till a law is implemented to carry out environmentally friendly campaigns. Since that is not happening, we have to bring in very strict conditions.

Public must question politicians’ intentions if they don’t abide

Artist – Malinga If they are bringing such reforms, it’s very good. During elections, we see campaign cut-outs and posters everywhere. Not only is it unpleasant to see, it also causes harm to the environment. If the Election Commission is taking a step forward in order to implement this as a law, it will have a positive impact on society as well as the environment all round. It’s hard to imagine the state our country will fall into, as I see our politicians intentionally ruining our country; they do not do anything beneficial for society. They will do anything to get more power and votes, so the general public must also be educated that if the politicians themselves do not make it their own policy to use clean initiatives to carry out their campaigns, we need to question their intentions.  

They will abide only if it’s made mandatory

Engineer – Lakmal This reform has been brought forward many times, but has not been implemented. So, personally, I do not think that we can keep high hopes regarding the matter. Unless this reform is made mandatory by law for candidates to proceed with their campaigns using environment-friendly methods, we should not expect the politicians to practise what they preach; they never have and never will. Only if a law is brought out and there’s a commitment by everyone to uphold this ethical way of campaigning would we be able to implement it. The international community has realised the need for this new method of executing clean election campaigns and it is high time the responsible authorities in this country understand that too.  

About time for these reforms

Painter – Shehani I think this is a good initiative. They should bring new reforms that are more timely and suited for modern-day generations. Polythene, plastic, and other non-biodegradable elements are frowned upon by the younger generations, and so this is necessary at this time. I think our environment gets destructed during election campaign time with flexes and other destructive materials; it also adds onto the garbage issue in Sri Lanka, so it is vital that at least now, the Election Commission takes a step towards implementing timely reforms.