Complaint filed with Basel Convention Secretariat

Sri Lanka seeks Rs. 1.6 Bn as compensation for shipping containers with garbage

by Zulfick Farzan 07-10-2020 | 11:02 AM

Colombo (News 1st); The Ministry of Environment on Wednesday (07) said a complaint was filed with the Basel Convention Secretariat seeking Rs. 1.649 Billion as a claim for damages caused by the importation of freight containers with garbage from the United Kingdom.

The freight containers were shipped to Sri Lanka between 2017 - 2018 violating the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

The Ministry of Environment said 263 freight containers with garbage were shipped to Sri Lanka from the UK and 130 of them were held at a facility at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone by a Private Company in Sri Lanka.

The other 133 freight containers with garbage were placed at a facility in the Colombo Harbour.

According to the Basel Convention, garbage can be shipped from one country to another, only based on the consent of both countries.

However, the freight containers with garbage in question were shipped to the country by a person with Sri Lankan descent with the assistance of his brother living in Sri Lanka.

21 freight containers with garbage of the total of 133 containers placed at the Colombo Harbour were shipped back to the UK on the 27th of September 2020 following investigations and the remaining 112 will also be shipped back to the UK after the investigations are over, said the Environment Ministry.

The Ministry of Environment said the complaint was filed on Wednesday (06) as per the provisions of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.