A delegation led by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith met the Secretary to the President, Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday to press environmental concerns across Muthurajawela, the Negombo Lagoon and parts of the Gampaha District.
The meeting took place on 30 October, the Daily Mirror reported on Saturday.
What was raised
Three matters are named in the account of the discussion:
- Environmental damage to the Muthurajawela wetlands
- Coastal degradation along the Pamunugama coastline
- Industrial-related problems at Liyanagemulla, Seeduwa
All three fall within the Gampaha District, and all three sit in or around the Muthurajawela–Negombo Lagoon system — a connected coastal marsh and lagoon complex immediately north of Colombo, in the heart of the island’s most densely settled Catholic districts.
What was decided
Following the meeting, the Secretary to the President instructed the relevant officials to take the measures necessary to prevent further environmental damage in the affected areas.
It was also agreed to establish committees made up of public representatives and community organisations to identify sustainable solutions to the concerns raised.
The filing does not say which agencies the officials belong to, what the committees’ terms of reference or deadlines will be, who will appoint them, or when they are to be set up. No specific development project, permit or decision is named as the cause of the damage described.
Context, and its limits
The Catholic Church has been a prominent voice on development pressure in the Muthurajawela wetland in earlier reporting by several outlets. This desk has not been able to date or verify those earlier reports and does not cite them here, and the Daily Mirror’s filing itself offers no background on previous Church positions or on any government response to them.
Neither the Cardinal nor the Secretary is quoted directly. The filing does not list the other members of the delegation.
Sourcing
Ada Derana carried the same meeting on Saturday under the headline “Discussion held on environmental issues affecting Muthurajawela, Negombo Lagoon and Gampaha District.” Its site has returned HTTP 403 errors to this desk for roughly 50 consecutive days, so no publication date could be extracted for that filing and it is not cited here. No other verified newsroom had the story at the time of writing.