Coast Conservation and Low Land Development State Minister Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva inaugurated a Micro Plastics Laboratory at the Southern Provincial Office Maritime Environmental Protection Authority in Dadella, Galle recently.
State Ministry Secretary Anil Wijesiri, Assistant Secretary to the External Affairs Ministry Hasanthi Dissanayake, Marine Environment Protection Authority Chairperson Dharshani Lahadapura, General Manager Jagath Gunasekara, and Galle Four Gravets Divisional Secretary, Himalay Ratnaweera were present.
Dr. Umberto Vinery and a team of experts representing the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture (CEFAS), United Kingdom, which donated the laboratory, took part in the event.
The laboratory will provide facilitates for those who want to study micro plastics in marine and coastal environments.
It also has facilities for field tests such as seawater sampling and seabed sediment evaluation.
It will also lay the groundwork for making timely policy decisions regarding the use of plastics and mitigate the unauthorised release of such materials into the environment.