Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera speaking at a meeting in Middeniya said empty arrack bottles carelessly discarded causes heavy environmental pollution.
There are five companies which produce arrack in Sri Lanka and as such we can imagine the volume of environmental pollution, caused he said.
A large quantity of lunch sheets are also released to the environment and this too should be put an end to. It was the duty of the authorities to offer alternatives to this problem before prohibiting it, otherwise the consumers will be greatly inconvenienced, Minister Amaraweera said. He said those who cause destruction to the environment by illicit sand and soil mining will be brought to book and dealt with severely according to the existing rules and regulations in the country.
