Lassana Werala

Sri Lanka has been in the fifth place in the list of countries that contribute the most for ocean pollution. As a country we have disposed more than 5 million tons of waste to the ocean daily. This will be a major issue in the upcoming years. Hence the Rotaract movement, the largest youth movement in Sri Lanka has taken a step to clean the beaches and riverbanks in Sri Lanka. Celebrating 50 years of inception in Sri Lanka they have initiated a project called “Recover” to conduct 50 cleanups within this year throughout Sri Lanka. 

As the Rotary West Family, we had joined hands with CHEC Port City and Wana Arana, initiating the project “Lassana Werala” to make a sustainable solution for the beach cleaning process in the area of Mount Lavinia to Wellawatta. This is a sustainable initiative and we will be planning to take care of this beach area for the next year. To kick start this project, we completed a large scaled beach cleanup to clean the coastal areas from Wellawatta to Mount Lavinia on the 04th of January 2020. 

This project was open to all Rotaracors in the district and on this day, more than 200 Rotaractors and Interactors gathered for this worthy cause along with another 100 volunteers from CHEC Port City, Wana Arana and some other volunteering groups. The main ceremony was held at the Mount Lavinia beach with the presence of Mr. Jayantha Samaraweera – State Minister of Environment, Dr. (Eng.) Priyath Bandu Wickrama – Secretary to the Ministry of Urban Development, Water Supply & Housing Facilities, dignitaries from CHEC Port City, Municipal Councils, Sri Lanka Police and Wana Arana Foundation. After the opening ceremony, volunteers were divided into three groups and allocated to Wellawatta, Dehiwala and Mount Lavinia beaches separately. 

Rtn. Yukithi Gunasekara and Rtn. Harsha Rajan also participated for this event representing Rotary Club of Colombo West. They guided us throughout the project and as per the District Governor Rtr. Sebestain Karunakaran they showed us the importance of the sustainability of such event. Therefore, with the help of CHEC Port City and the Municipal Councils in the area we were able to make this initiative as a one-year long project while they took the responsibility of cleaning the area.  

After four to five hours of work, volunteers were able to complete the cleanup collecting more than 250 kg of polythene, plastic and other waste. Apart from that to make this a sustainable initiative, new waste collection bins were placed in these areas with the support of the contribution of CHEC Port City. After the end of the project Rotaractors did not forget to enjoy the amazing Mount sea ignoring the heat from the sun. 

We strongly believe that initiatives like this will help to make the beautiful beaches in Sri Lanka more beautiful and make this country a better and attractive place to live. So as Rotaractors we will be contributing to save the environment for the future generations. 

 Rtr. Hasitha Prashan