Ajantha Perera | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1963 (age 61–62) |
| Education | PhD |
| Alma mater | University of Colombo |
| Occupation(s) | Social activist, Scientist, Academic, EnvironmentalIst |
| Known for | Founder of National Programme on the Recycling of Solid Waste |
| Political party | United National Party(since 2020) Socialist Party of Sri Lanka(2019) |
Ajantha Wijesinghe Perera (Sinhala:අජන්තා පෙරේරා) is aSri Lankan academic, scientist, university lecturer,environmental activist and politician.[1] She is known for her efforts to end the garbage crisis in Sri Lanka and is nicknamed as Garbage Queen.[2] She founded the National Programme on Recycling of Solid Waste to solve the garbage crisis.[3][4] She was also a candidate in the2019 Sri Lankan presidential elections,[5][6] the only female candidate in the election and the first female presidential candidate since1999.[7][8]
Ajantha Perera completed her higher studies inEngland and returned to Sri Lanka at the age of 23. She joined theUniversity of Kelaniya as an assistant lecturer inbiochemistry,physiology andzoology. She joined theUniversity of Colombo as a senior lecturer in environmental studies, where she also completed her graduation.[9]
Perera has worked as an expert with several ministries in Sri Lanka and inFiji. She is currently working to make a recycling management strategy for solid waste in the country.[10]
She took an interest in politics in 2019 and contested in the2019 Sri Lankan presidential elections as a candidate of theSocialist Party of Sri Lanka. She received only 27,572 votes, making her the seventh most-voted candidate.[5][6] She was the only female candidate in the election and the first female presidential candidate in Sri Lanka since1999.[7][8]
In February 2020, she joined theUnited National Party following an invitation suggested by UNP leaderRanil Wickremesinghe, as Perera's grandfather had also represented the party before.[11] She contested in the2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections representing the UNP in theColombo district, but failed to get elected.[12][13][14]
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