Cabinet Subcommittee meets on El Nino impact
Special Cabinet Subcommittee, officials’ committee meets for fourth time on El Nino
New program to assist those who lost jobs due to El Nino impact
The special Cabinet subcommittee and officials’ committee, appointed under the chairmanship of the Minister of Environment, Dr Dammika Patabendi, to discuss measures to address the El Niño climate impact, met for the fourth time recently at the Presidential Secretariat.
Special attention was given to the risk of some people losing their jobs due to El Niño, and measures to provide relief to those who have lost their jobs were also discussed.
Attention was also given to measures to minimize the risks that El Niño conditions could pose to vegetable and fruit cultivation, as well as steps to prevent a shortage of vegetables in the country.
As people in six districts are currently affected by the El Niño impact, the progress of programs being implemented to ensure a continuous water supply needed to enable people in those areas to maintain their daily lives as normal was also reviewed.
It was decided to hold a media briefing on September 4 to raise awareness about the commencement of the Maha cultivation season.
It was also decided to hold a Zoom discussion with district secretaries, including the chairpersons of the district coordinating committees, in the six districts affected by El Niño.
The subcommittee is scheduled to meet again on Sept. 14.
Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply Susil Ranasinghe; Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Samantha Vidyaratne; Secretary/Convener of the special Cabinet subcommittee and Chairman of the officials’ committee/Chief of Presidential Staff Prabath Chandrakeerthi; Secretary to the Ministry of Environment K.R. Uduwawala; Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation D.P. Wickramasinghe; Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development K.A. Wimalenthiraraja; Secretary to the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Gunadasa Samarasinghe; Director General of the Department of Meteorology A.L.K. Wijemanne; and Director General of the Disaster Management Centre, Major General Sampath Kotuwegoda (Retd), together with officials from the relevant departments, attended the meeting.