Customs repatriate second batch of controversial waste containers to UK

82 containers carrying garbage to leave Colombo today

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

Sri Lanka Customs will repatriate the second batch of the controversial 242 container loads of garbage to the United Kingdom in three different shipments from the Colombo Port today, after having sent the first batch last Friday.   

Accordingly, 82 containers of waste lying at the Colombo Port will be repatriated under the supervision of the Customs Social Protection Unit, which is to reach Briton ports in a couple of week’s time through transit destinations.   

Additional Director General of Customs and its Spokesman Sunil Jayaratne told the Daily Mirror yesterday, the first lot of 65 containers will be dispatched through the vessel ‘MV Ever Govern’ in the early hours of today (06).   
Another seven containers will leave on the vessel ‘MV MSC Qingdao’ this afternoon, whilst the remaining 10 containers are scheduled to leave on ‘MV MSC Leanne’ around 9.00pm today.  The Court of Appeal ordered the Customs two weeks back to repatriate the waste containers following an appeal filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice for importing hazardous post-consumer materials into Sri Lanka by a private company named Colombo Metal Industries through a local hub operator without the knowledge of the Central Environment Authority (CEA) in 2017.   Preliminary investigations into the case revealed that a British company had exported the waste material violating the international treaty, Basel Convention signed on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Material.   

Out of the remaining 140 containers, ten are reportedly lying at the Colombo Port and the rest at the hub operator’s yard

The Customs in early 2019 detected the waste containers, which had been imported by falsely declaring them as extract metal from used mattresses for re-export purposes.   

However, the investigations revealed that the actual motive of the importer was to be a part of multi-million dollar racket of disposing international waste in Sri Lanka, under the guise of re-exporting of metal extracted from mattresses which was a cover-up.   

The first batch of 20 containers were repatriated on October 30th from the Colombo Port on the vessel ‘Texas Triumph’ and ADG Jayaratne said excluding the 82 containers being sent today, another 140 containers of waste remain in the country. 

 
Customs Social Protection Unit Superintendent Ashrof Samsudeen with Assistant Superintendents Ms. Thilini Jayasundara, K K M Saleem and P G Gagana are conducting investigations on the instructions Customs Director General Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Vijitha Ravipriya, Addn. Dir. Gen. Enforcement S Anandaeaswaran and Director Social Protection S P I Balasooriya.   

Out of the remaining 140 containers, ten are reportedly lying at the Colombo Port and the rest at the hub operator’s yard.