CEA, Customs fail to take action against importers

CEJ to take up case again

Toxic garbage from the UK

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) would refile their case against the illegal import of toxic garbage from the United Kingdom as the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and the Department of the Customs have not taken legal action against the companies that imported the garbage, CEJ consultant and former Executive Director Hemantha Withanage told The Island yesterday.

The Sri Lanka Customs yesterday shipped out the last 45, out of 243 containers, filled with toxic garbage imported from the United Kingdom. The 243 containers had 3,000 tons of waste in them.

“We were the first to file a case against the garbage. When we filed the case, the CEA contacted the Basel Convention Office in the UK. The Basel Convention is an international treaty designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste among countries. They agreed to take back the garbage but they said that they could not do so while a court case was on. Therefore, we withdrew the case on two conditions––they would back all the containers and the CEA and the Department of the Customs would institute legal action against the perpetrators under the National Environmental Act and the Customs Ordinance,” he said.

No legal action had been taken against the culprits, and, therefore, the CEJ would file a case again, Withanage said.

Withanage said that the waste containers had been imported by Ceylon Metal Processing (pvt) Ltd in 2017 with the support of Hayley’s group and found in Hayley’s Hub operation location in Katunayaka Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and in the China container terminal in Colombo Harbour.

Although the imported waste was listed as used mattresses, carpets and rugs, the containers also had biowaste from hospitals including body parts from mortuaries.

The containers were imported in violation of Basel Convention, the provisions of the National Environmental Act and the Customs Ordinance. In late 2020, the Court of Appeal ordered repatriation of 243 waste containers imported from the UK. Customs shipped back 112 containers to Britain by the end of 2020. Some 85 containers were sent to Britain on nine occasions in 2021.