{"id":92174,"date":"2019-08-12T14:01:24","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T21:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=92174"},"modified":"2019-09-14T16:19:20","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T23:19:20","slug":"yahapalana-and-the-economy-part-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/08\/12\/yahapalana-and-the-economy-part-12\/","title":{"rendered":"YAHAPALANA AND THE ECONOMY Part 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Revised  14.9.19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Section 1. SERVICES.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SHIPPING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New\nregulations are to be introduced soon to open up Sri Lanka\u2019s shipping sector to\ntransform the country to a Singapore-style shipping hub, Finance Minister\nMangala Samaraweera announced in March 2019. This sector is at present controlled\nby five local companies.   They control\nthe agencies of shipping lines that account for 74 per cent of the global\nshipping market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget 2019\nwill lift Restrictions on the foreign ownership on the shipping and the\nfreight forwarding agencies, under these new regulations,\u201d he said adding that\nit will enable major international shipping lines and logistics operators to\nbase their operations in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to\nthe present law, a foreign entity cannot own more than 40 per cent of a\nshipping company in Sri Lanka. By introducing new regulations the country would\nbe able to attract major global shipping companies like Maersk to make an\nanchor investment in the country. Companies like Amazon could be attracted for\nwarehousing for e-Commerce in the region. Support services such as financial\nservices, legal services and other professional services can flourish in this\nenvironment, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ceylon\nAssociation of Shipping Agents (CASA) and Sri Lanka Logistics and Freight\nForwarders Association (SLFFA) vehemently protested against this move, saying\nit will not bring in any additional investments or benefits to the country. All\naspects of the shipping industry except for agency including terminals,\nwarehouse and depot infrastructure, ancillary service infrastructure, etc are already\nliberalized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 If this change goes through, all profits of a\nshipping agency will be repatriated and not retained and reinvested within the\ncountry, as done at present by local agents. Also, shipping lines will charge\nall owners costs to the agency and make it a cost centre, depriving the\ngovernment of tax revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are\ncurrently 130 shipping agents handling 35000 container vessels and 6000 non\ncontainer vessels. They employ 12,000 people. These shipping agents will lose\ntheir livelihood by the government\u2019s move to liberalize the shipping sector. Foreign\ninvestors from countries in the region will set up small agency offices for\ncaller vessels and reduce business available to local small agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETROL (1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection (NMCRP)\ncomplained in July 2019 that the fuel stations across the country were selling\nsubstandard 92 octane petrol. This had been proved by a test conducted by a Ceylon\nPetroleum Corporation (CPC) lab on samples collected from all parts of the\ncountry.”We lodged a complaint with the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA)\nthat the 92 octane petrol was of inferior quality. The CAA tested samples at\nthe CPC lab and the test results show that 92 octane petrol is actually similar\nto 90 octane petrol. Some time back the CPC stopped selling 90 octane petrol\ndue to its low quality. But it seems that we still buy 90 octane petrol.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETROL (2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government had incurred a loss of Rs. 11.3 million when Ceylon\nPetroleum Storage Terminals Ltd ( CPSTL) bought five 13,200-litre oil bowsers\nfrom a bidder who had quoted the highest price, the Presidential Commission of\nInquiry investigating corruption in the current administration was told. The\nCommission was also told that four out of the five trucks were being operated\nin Kandy and  the drivers of those trucks\nhad complained about various issues regarding the performance and facilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tender board had not selected the second lowest bidder, Senok,\nciting the exhaust system in the vehicle it offered was different. General\nManager of Senok said: “In Sri Lanka we usually use Euro 1 and Euro 2\nstandard. So when these vehicles are brought in, our mechanics make some\nchanges to the exhaust system to improve vehicle emissions. That\u2019s what the\ntender document had mentioned. However we explained in our tender document that\nthe engine in the vehicle we had quoted adhered to Euro 3 standard. So we\ndidn\u2019t have to make that change to the exhaust system. Senok had been supplying\nUD Trucks to the CPSTL since 1990 and over 140 such vehicles had been sold to\nthem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RAJAGIRIYA \u2013\nATURUGIRIYA HIGHWAY PROJECT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Elevated\nHighway Project from Rajagiriya to Athurugiriya, has hit a snag over its\nproposed route.  The initial proposal of\nthe RDA was to have an elevated highway over the recently constructed Averihena\nLake, which serves as a flood retention area, and surrounding paddy fields. The\nselected area was a part of the Thalangama wetland which was declared an\nEnvironmental Protection Area under the National Environmental Act in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  However  Central Environment Authority (CEA)objected to\nthe project. CEA said, There is a\ntank constructed by the Irrigation Department, some paddy fields and a flood\nretention area. This area is important in terms of hydrology and it has rich\necology. The wetland is also the habitat of a large number of bird species. The\nentire area is rich in scenic beauty. We fear that the proposed elevated\nhighway may damage this sensitive eco-system.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The RDA told us that the elevated highway\nwould not cause much environmental harm since it is constructed over pillars,\nbut it is our opinion that there will be significant damage to the wetland when\nthe construction starts,\u201d  CEA said. We\nare unable to approve such a proposal. True, it is not a natural eco-system,\nbut over the years, it has gradually acquired the same status,\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RDA thereafter\n proposed an alternative route from\nPothuarawa. For this, the government \nwill have to acquire 750 land lots . It requires the resettlement of\n1,010 families and the demolishing of about 34 shops, 42 shop houses and 42\nself-employed business places. The land acquisition will leave 106 structures\npartially affected and 634 fully affected.  residents \nobjected. They asked why the RDA chose a highly residential area for\nthis highway. Many families would lose their properties if the proposed\nelevated highway goes through Pothuarawa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We cannot\nunderstand the rationale of choosing a highly residential area for the project,\nshedding the initial proposal which would have caused the least social impact,\nresidents said. RDA\u2019s initial proposal to have the elevated highway over the\nThalangama wetland  will not cause much\nenvironmental harm as claimed by the CEA.It is a man-made environment with\nuncultivated paddy fields, a flood retention area and even jogging tracks. The\nlands belong to the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation\n(SLLRDC). No private property will be affected if the RDA goes ahead with that\nplan. Any development project must be designed to cause minimal impact on the\npeople\u2019 they said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GARBAGE\nDISPOSAL (1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The garbage\ncollection process in Colombo city was abruptly stopped in August 2019, after\nthe CMC was advised not to send garbage to Kerawalapitiya as it had reached the\nmaximum limit of garbage intake per day. \nCMC was told to send it to Arawakkalu hereafter.  There was a delay and garbage started piling up\non the streets of Colombo. In April 2019, People living in Ukwatte were told to\ngo away as it was unsafe. They\ncomplained on television news that they had nowhere to go except to the temple.\nGarbage was still coming in.   Derana news of 7.8.19 showed piles of garbage\nin  many places in Colombo, with\npeople  complaining loudly and angrily  about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, after\nseveral days, the necessary agreement was signed, payments made and   the garbage went to Aruwakkalu . It was\ntaken by a  private transportation company\nand  CMC complained that the operation\nwas costing a mint of money.  However,\nDerana news of 11.8.19 showed the residents of Aruwakkalu strongly  objecting to Colombo garbage coming there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GARBAGE\nDISPOSAL (2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the inception of the Fairway Karadiyana Waste Management\nproject, the landfill consisted of two disposal sites; A and B. A plot of land\nin extent of 10 acres was allocated adjacent to Site B, which was being used to\ndispose of waste. With the project initiation, the old closed landfill, Site A,\nwas re-opened by the Waste Management Authority as a temporary measure, for the\nproject to progress unimpeded. At present, the re-opened site accepts\napproximately 60%-70% of the 500 tons per day from 8 local authorities that are\nlegally allowed to dispose of waste at Karadiyana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of an extended delay in the implementation of the  Fairway Karadiyana Waste Processing Project\nthe temporary disposal site continues to grow in size and at a rate that is not\nsustainable. The slopes of this landfill are becoming dangerously steep,\nechoing the memory of the catastrophe that took place at Meethotamulla two\nyears ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Building Research Organization (NBRO) recently issued\na report highlighting the precarious situation of the landfill and the danger\nof a possible collapse if garbage disposal continues at this site at the\ncurrent rate. The report highlights the current situation, the dangers\n(steepness of the slopes, geophysical characteristics of the landfill,\npotential for gas collection and explosion) and the possible consequences and a\nset of recommendations to the WMA that can lead to full closure of the largest\nlandfill in Colombo district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community in the area continues to bear the brunt of the\nconsequences arising from the landfill and the inaction of the government. The\nground and surface water pollution continues unabated and will only get worse\nwith the rains. There are dangerous levels of gas build up as more and more\ngarbage is piled on top. Leachate from the landfill continues to flow into the\nsurface water bodies around the landfill, namely Weras Ganga that feeds into\nthe Bolgoda River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GARBAGE\nDISPOSAL (3)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2019, the media reported that the Fairway Waste\nManagement Project at  Karadiyana    was at\na standstill. The project has been delayed due to various issues  raised by the CEB, followed by the Ministry\nof Finance, the Ministry of Power & Renewable Energy, and by the Treasury,\nwhile the importance and urgency of the issue had been pointed out repeatedly\nby the concerned authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The developer having spent a total of LKR 1,312 million on the\nproject from site preparation, engineering design, advanced payments and civil\nworks (has completed 90% of the piling work), was forced to stop work and\ndemobilize from the site.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2019, media reported that Fairway was still waiting for\nthe Ministry of Power & Renewable Energy to act on the cabinet decision\nrequesting the CEB to sign a PPA with Fairway Waste management. The government\nis yet to sign the PPA even after obtaining cabinet approval. The project\nremains a standstill, as of now. The developer is still hopeful that good sense\nwill prevail and that it will be able to continue albeit the losses that it has\nincurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Fairway Waste to Energy project was allowed to proceed as\nplanned , the facility would have been accepting a limited quantity of waste by\nJuly 2019  and the full 500 tons\/day by\nnot later than November 2019. The project would have  provided for the safe disposal of all Colombo\nSouth waste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The landfill could have been reclaimed as a public space in a\nshort span of 4 years allowing its use for recreational activities (walking\npath, biking and hiking etc.), as have been achieved with many closed landfills\naround the world. The inert\nbyproducts from the facility would have been used as a landfill cover as a\nprimary step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project would have addressed two critical issues that the\ncountry is facing today ,sustainable waste disposal and electricity generation.\nThe waste processing facility would have provided enough electricity to power\napproximately 40,000 households (based on World Bank statistics of average\nenergy use in Sri Lanka), by supplying approximately 83,000,000 kWh\/year to the\ngrid. The plant would have been considered a base-load facility as it is\ndesigned to operate approximately 8000 hours\/year. It would have produced power\nat a rate significantly cheaper than what is considered to be paid for\nemergency power today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Karadiyana waste Processing Project would have been the most\nadvanced Waste processing plant with integrated biological and thermo-physical\ntreatment. It is  already recognized as a\nlandmark project and is cited in international industry publications. The\nproject has met the most stringent environmental, social and Health\nrequirements required by the World Bank to receive USD 6.7 million through its\nprivate financing arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). It is the\nonly waste project to receive IFC funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GARBAGE\nDISPOSAL (4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of a\nlandfill for garbage at Arawakkalu in Puttalam was first considered in August\n2014. The project\ninvolved loading sorted municipal solid waste into sealed containers at a\ntransfer station built in Kelaniya, to be transported by rail and unloaded at\nan engineering sanitary landfill site  at\nGanewadiya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

, the project\ncosting US$ 274 million  was to be funded\nby Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (US$ 115 million)  the World Bank (US$ 115 million) and\nGovernment of Sri Lanka  (USD  44 \nmillion). The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and feasibility\nreports were ready by December 2014.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Yahapalana government rejected the EIA on\nJanuary 2016.  Yahapalana said that Ganewadiya\nwas within the buffer zone of the Wilpattu National Park   and\nthat the Wildlife Department insisted that Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance\ndid not permit waste dumps in buffer zones.  Also that the site was frequented by wild\nanimals including elephants. Once garbage comes in, it could aggravate the\nhuman\u2013elephant conflict near the fishing village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana\nselected Seerakkuli instead. The public\nliving in Seerakkuli protested. “Ganewadiya is several kilometres\naway. We have no objection to that place, but this has now been shifted to\nSeerakkuli.  We were told that officials\nfrom the Wildlife Department protested since it would have disastrous effects\non the wildlife. What of us then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By August\n2018, the Kerawalapitiya garbage site was full and garbage was to go to\nSeerakkuli ahead of schedule  by road.  More than 600 tons of garbage were to be\ntransported from the Western Province by road daily to Puttalam. They would be\ntransported by rail from mid 2019.  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The public\nstrongly objected. In august 2019, four tipper trucks transporting garbage from\nColombo to the Arawakkalu garbage dump were attacked twice by an unidentified\ngroup near the 4th km post on the Puttalam – Mannar old road. The tipper\ndrivers complained that iron poles and rocks were used to attack the tippers\nand the protestors had even tried to drag them out of their seats without\nsuccess. The four trucks were among a convoy of 29 transporting garbage from\nColombo to Arawakkalu and were escorted by army and police. Four suspects\narrested in this connection were released on bail by the Puttalam Magistrate\u2019s\ncourt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protests\ncontinued. Stones were thrown at the trucks as they came in.  Puttalam Police were asked to take stern\naction against the offenders. Instructions have been given to tighten security\nprovided to trucks transporting garbage to Arawakkalu, the police said. The\narmy was also brought in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September\n2019 the media reported that there were protests in Puttalam town against\ndumping of garbage from Colombo at Arawakkalu. Protestors came along\nSerakkuliya lagoon, accompanied by Muslim and Catholic priests, they invaded\nthe construction site and protested. They removed the machinery also attacked\nthe office of the project. The protest was so strong, the laborers ran away. Police\nwere summoned .Television news showed the protest. The police anti riot squad was\nbrought in to quell the protest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SECTION\n2 INDUSTRIES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COIR\nINDUSTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s\ncoir industry, once a flourishing business that provided a major income to\nthousands of people is now in difficulties, the industry said in March 2019.\nThe small, medium and traditional coir and coir-based industrialists in the\ncountry  complain that they are now\ncompelled to close down their businesses owing to foreign company invasion in\njoint ventures with local partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign\ncompanies engaged in the lucrative coir-based product exports with local\npartners are enjoying unlimited business freedom granted to them by Sri Lanka\ngovernment authorities including the line ministries and the Board of\nInvestment (BOI), they alleged. The local\ncompanies cannot survive in the stiff competition of foreign firms with modern machinery\nand resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A combination\nof factors has brought about a steady decline in the business of local\nentrepreneurs, including non availability of raw material, subsequent surge in\ninput prices, the lack of modern machinery, and failure to mechanize their\nmanufacturing process.Foreign companies in Sri Lanka have moved ahead with\npre-crushing machines. All necessary facilities and approvals have been given\nto them by the North Western Provincial Council authorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stock of\nover 2000 metric tons of calcium nitrate chemical fertilizer is being imported\nto the country yearly and 90 per cent of it is used for coco peat washing process.<\/em> <\/em>These\nmultinational companies operating in Sri Lanka wash raw coco peat with water\nfirst and calcium nitrate with water thereafter \nand discharge effluence to the environment causing severe water\npollution in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wastewater\nproduced in the process of removing unwanted elements in the coir substrate\nmanufacturing process should be managed properly to prevent environmental\npollution. Some companies are maintaining wastewater treatment plants in their\ncoir factories. However, a Norwegian multinational firm was dumping waste water\nto some pits near the river contaminating ground water at Deduru Oya area in\nKobeigane. All these\ncomplaints against such companies have fallen on deaf ears, coir manufacturers\ncomplained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CANNED\nFISH INDUSTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canned Fish\nManufacturing Association of Sri Lanka complained that it  has not received support from  the present government  or the previous government. Mahinda Rajapaksa\ngovernment had  agreed to purchase their\nproducts and sell them through the Lak Sathosa network granting an Rs 20\nconcession for each can. However neither Lak Sathosa nor the Treasury  has settled the arrears accumulating to Rs. 26\nmillion. This has severely hampered their production ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in\nFebruary 2015,   Yahapalana government\nreduced the import duty levied on canned fish by more than 50 percent. This had\na negative impact on locally produced canned fish.the Association urged the\ngovernment to reinforce the duty on imported canned fish to at least the level\nthat existed before February 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four\ncompanies were engaged in canned fish production in Sri Lanka currently and the\ncountry\u2019s capacities were thoroughly under-utilized due to large stocks being\nimported from countries such as China, Chili and Thailand. The local canned fish industry has purchased\nover Rs 100 million worth fish from the local fishing community for the past\nseven months <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the\ngovernment  supports the local canned\nfish industry  it could be\nself-sufficient,  said the Association. With\nsome relief, we could develop the industry and save the country US$ 64 million\nannually which is spent on the import of canned fish from overseas. The canned\nfish consumption is approximately 175,000 cans per day in Sri Lanka and we have\nthe capacity to provide 75 percent of the total requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FISHING\nNET INDUSTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northsea Ltd, a government owned fishing net manufacturer, had\ntaken over the  fishing net project  of Cey-Nor Foundation . CeyNor  had made \nfishing nets from material from Toray Industries, Japan. “Toray is\nwell known throughout the industry and Cey-Nor had  asked Northsea to keep using Toray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northsea had purchased substantial amounts of   material from J.P. Fernando and Sons, between\n2014 and 2017. We were approached, in 2014, because we worked extensively with Toray\nIndustries, Japan. The management that took over after August 2015, following\nthe change of government, started reducing the purchases. “Towards the end\nthe purchase order was at retail levels. Still, we delivered the stocks to\nNorthsea fishnet factories in Jaffna, Weerawila and Lunuwila. However, they\nstopped working with us from May 2017 and instead of importing Toray products\ndirectly Northsea started material importing from India.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fishnet suppliers told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry\ninvestigating corruption in the current administration that Northsea then systematically\ngot rid of suppliers of high quality material used in fishnets and started\nimporting low quality material from India. The  owner of Delly Enterprises stated that Chairperson\nof Northsea S.T. Parameswaran threatened him in July 2017 after he had taken\npart in the bidding process to supply material to Northsea that\nyear. “He told me that he was the brother of a Jaffna politician and\nthat I should not mess with him. And, I didn’t want to continue for obvious\nreasons.( Island 4.7.19 p 3) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MINERAL SANDS\nINDUSTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanka Mineral\nSands Ltd (LMSL) will be restructured under a public private partnership with a\nleading Japanese conglomerate, to take over strategic mineral production,\nespecially ilmenite at the Pulmoddai deposit, reported the media in January\n2019. This firm will  manufacture\nTitanium dioxide from ilmenite, .This deal was a major outcome of President\nSirisena\u2019s visit to Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LMSL is not\nin a position to enter into value added production such as making Titanium\ndioxide, as it has neither the financial and human resources or the  necessary expertise. The only option is to\nenter into a joint venture with local or foreign investors to produce value\nadded mineral products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LMSL\nsells its main mineral products such as Ilmenite, Rutile, Zircon, ilmenite, etc\nthrough an  international competitive\nbidding procedure. LMSL currently exports mineral sand to Russia, Japan, US and\nthe UK.  The present production is\nlimited to 90,000 tons of ilmenite, 9,000 tons of Rutile and 5,500 tons of\nZircon annually. LMSL has already mined a massive stock of mineral sands over\nthe past 50 years along the beach from Pulmoddai-Kokilai exhausting mineral\nsands  and therefore the company is not\nmaking much money at present, it is currently running at a loss and  salaries are paid jointly with Treasury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employees of\nthe company are up in arms against this attempt to divest the mineral resources\nat Pulmoddai. They  say the \nagreement with the Japanese company was through an\nunsolicited bid.  They said that\nmodification and upgrading of the present plant in Pulmoddai has been\ncompleted, and the company is contributing large sums of money to the national\ncoffers but it cannot carry out its functions with maximum productivity due to\nlack of human resources and other facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They point\nout that these mineral sands are public assets. They  contain strategic Rare Earth Elements. Minerals and\ndeposits are found along the eastern coastal belt from Mullaitivu to Pulmoddai\nand from there to Kotuwakambi. This is one of the most treasured natural\nresources of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GARBAGE\nRECYCLING INDUSTRY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2019  it was\ndiscovered that  a consignment of 102\ncontainer loads of garbage consisting of \u2018clinical waste\u2019 had been imported\nfrom the United Kingdom.   Some  loads had had been dumped  on high ground at Katunayake and   the rest was held at the Colombo Port. They had\nremained uncleared for more than 15 months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 On examination, Sri Lanka customs  found that \nthe waste had been imported as used mattresses, but contained bio and\nclinical waste, in contravention of international laws on the transport of waste\nmaterial. Extremely hazardous\u201d materials were  mixed in with mattresses, plastics and\nclinical waste. There was a gas emanating which could be harmful   and the\nstench is unbearable.” This is a well-organized racket that has been\ngoing on since 2017,\u201d said Customs.  It\nis violating environment laws including  the international treaty which prevents import\nof  hazardous waste, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister of\nFinance, Mangala Samaraweera told Parliament that these   imports had begun in Sept 2017. From\nSeptember 2017 until March 2018, 241 waste containers had been imported to Sri\nLanka. The waste included used metal consignments, used mattresses, used\ncarpets, bird feathers, worms and glass scrap.   “Of these containers 111  were detained at Colombo Port. 130 containers\nwere released by Hayley\u2019s Free Zone Limited. Hayleys has  re-exported 17 of them in 2017 and 2018 to\nIndia and Dubai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayleys Free Zone Ltd ,an integrated logistics and entrepot\ntrading company operating within the Katunayake Export Processing Zone, was\nreported  as the importer of the  consignment of clinical waste.  The company  firmly denied this.  Hayleys said this consignment was sent from\nthe UK by a company named Vangaard Ltd  to be received here by  Ceylon Metals  Co. Hayleys said that Muthurama Shri\nSashikumaran who was the head of Ceylon Metals had  got into financial difficulties,  his business operation got stalled and the\nconsignment had been left un-claimed for the past seven months. Sasikumaran\ndenied that the containers he had imported contained bio waste.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan authorities said they were going to send the   consignment back to the UK. The British\ngovernment  looked into the matter, and announced  that it was willing to take back the  containers.  The public were told that Indonesia and the\nPhilippines had also returned shipments of foreign rubbish to their ports of\norigin,. Indonesia announced it was sending more than 210 tonnes of garbage\nback to Australia and Canada has agreed to accept 69 containers of rubbish it\nhad shipped to the Philippines between 2013 and 2014.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gomi Senadhira, former Trade Commissioner, had previously warned\nthe government of dire consequences of importing of garbage of all sorts in\naccordance with the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SL-SFTA) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ)  filed a writ of Certiorari and Mandamus in\nthe Court of Appeal over the two consignments.. The petitioners said that some\nimporters have brought in consignments of waste material including clinical\nwaste, used cushions and mattresses, plant parts, plastic waste and other\nuncategorized and hazardous waste into country from United Kingdom in the guise\nof importing permitted consignments with the intention of disposing such waste\nwithin the country and such action may cause severe damage to the environment\nand serious threats to public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petitioners  pointed out\nthat if any such consignments containing chemical waste are permitted to be\nburied here or sent to open dumps, the underground water table and the\nsurrounding environment will be severely affected. They have\nsaid that such waste imports have been done without adhering to the terms of\nthe BASEL Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous\nWastes and Their Disposal for which Sri Lanka is a signatory and had ratified\nthe said convention in 1992. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petitioners seek a Writ of Certiorari quashing the validity of all\ndocuments\/permits granted by any authority to import waste in violation of the\nprovisions of the NEA.  Also a Writ of\nMandamus, directing the Customs Department to act under and in terms of the\ncustoms Ordinance No. 17 of 1869 as amended in taking measures to punish the offenders.\nThey also seek the court to direct the respondents to take steps to re-export\nthe waste containers back to United Kingdom, the country of origin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign garbage is reported to have been brought here for the last\nseveral years thanks to a an amendment passed in 2013 to the Finance Act. This amendment\nhad removed certain strict restrictions which enabled the Customs to monitor  such imports. This was done\nto facilitate\nimports for BOI ventures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Gazette\nnotification No. 1818-30 of 2013  any new\nenterprise where at least 65 per cent of its total investment has been from\nforeign sources of which the total turnover is from export of goods and\nservices were exempted from certain provisions of the Customs Ordinance,\nExchange Control Act and the Imports and Exports (control) Act.  This meant that Sri Lanka  Customs has no right to inquire into these\nillegal imports or at least to check those containers. . This is in turn meant\nthat no investigation can be carried out into illegal imports of this nature.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOI Chairman  disagreed. This\nextraordinary gazette notification facilitated trade activities such as\nentrepot trade, offshore business, front-end services, operations of the\nheadquarters of leading buyers and logistic services. Certain goods have been\nlimited or prohibited from being imported into the country as per the Custom\u2019s\nOrdinance. If someone has violated these regulations, legal action can be taken\nagainst them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He  said that the Regulations\nto this Act provides for the operational guidelines and the BOI Agreement too\nstipulates the conditions the Hub Operator has to fulfill. The Act enables\nelectronic monitoring of all CUSDECS by Sri Lanka Customs (SLC) and with the\nadoption of synchronized procedures by the SLC and the BOI and monitoring of\nthe cargo movement using GPS there is no room to smuggle anything, leave alone\nwaste material,\u201d he said. The\ngovernment did not see any valid reason to cancel the  said extraordinary gazette notification. .the\ngovernment did not see any valid reason to cancel said extraordinary gazette\nnotification.”  ( <\/em>Continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised  14.9.19 Section 1. SERVICES. SHIPPING New regulations are to be introduced soon to open up Sri Lanka\u2019s shipping sector to transform the country to a Singapore-style shipping hub, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera announced in March 2019. This sector is at present controlled by five local companies.   They control the agencies of shipping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}