A student’s environment conference has been cancelled at the last minute.

RaajjeMV understands that the conference, which was scheduled for April 6 – 8 at event hall Dharubaaruge, was cancelled upon request from the President’s Office.

The environment ministry has not issued a public statement over the cancellation, which has been confirmed by some senior officials of the ministry.

Around 400 students were to participate in the conference, for which plane and speedboat tickets have already been bought for students and costumes for a show were already paid for.

RaajjeMV understands that MVR 8m was set for the conference, of which MVR 1m were to be taken from the state budget and the rest was from international environmental funds. An official said that around MVR 1m has already been spent.

The first student environmental conference was held in 2015 in which 150 students from 37 schools joined.