All industries should come under one umbrella
organisation:
Regular inspections of industries, a pre-requisite
By Ranil Wijayapala
The recent protests by the people living around Rathupaswala in
Weliweriya over the contamination of ground water in the area pointing
an accusing finger at one BOI company producing rubber gloves was an eye
opener for many chemical-based industries in the country.
Dr. Rohan Perera |
A significant outcome of this incident is that there is a risk with
other chemical- based industries set up in Sri Lanka which might face a
similar uprising in time to come if the relevant authorities do not keep
a tab on these industries on a regular basis and inspect them and report
whether there is an environmental impact.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa following a discussion he had with the
people of Weliweriya and also with other stakeholders involved in this
incident, directed that the rubber glove manufacturing BOI company
should be shifted to another area if the factory is found responsible
for the contamination of ground water in the area.
Director of the National Authority for the Implementation of the
Chemical Weapon Convention in Sri Lanka, Dr. Rohan Perera in an
exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer commenting on the incident
in Weliweriya highlighted the importance of inspecting these chemical-
based industries in Sri Lanka on a regular basis as it is important not
only to avoid any environmental disasters but also to ensure the
sustainability of these industries in Sri Lanka.
As a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international
treaty on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling
and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction Sri Lanka also set
up a National Authority for the Implementation of the Chemical Weapon
Convention (NAICWC) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry under
Act No.58 of 2007 to implement the international convention in Sri
Lanka.
The NAICWC has the mandate to periodic inspections of the industries
using chemicals to ensure that they adhere to the correct usage of
chemicals and also to ensure the release of effluence to the environment
causing environmental damage.
According to Dr. Rohan Perera, though investigations were underway to
ascertain whether the BOI factory in Rathupaswala is responsible for the
contamination of ground water, the absence of baseline data on the Ph
level of ground water area at the time of the setting up of the factory
makes it difficult to find out whether the factory was directly
responsible for the prevailing situation.
“The Central Environment Authority conducts the Environmental Impact
Assessment before any industry starts and they are responsible for the
issuing environment protection license. When submitting the EPL in 1994
they have not done any soil analysis and there is no information about
the ground water Ph values and they have done only an analysis on the
number of plants and animals are living in that area. That is the only
thing they took into the consideration in 1994. But right now the
problem arises due to e ground water samples are highly contaminated
ground water due to very high acidic Ph value”, he added.
To prove that the factory is responsible for that we have to make
some sort of a tube wells and take ground water samples rather taking
water from a well and check whether this particular ground water sample
is having higher Ph or lower Ph value.
“The other thing we could do is we can do a certain survey analysis
in that particular area by taking the water samples from the vicinity of
that region and can go little far away and take water sample form a well
and check whether there is Ph level difference between the wells close
to the factory and wells little further away from the factory. This is
one other solution,” he said.
However, without access to the factory premises it is difficult to
come to a proper conclusion.
“So far we have not been given access to the factory to conduct an
inspection”, Dr. Perera said.
According to him industries come under the Industrial Development
Board and under the Board of Investment.
“We as the National Authority for the Implementation of the Chemical
Weapons Convention under the Ministry of Commerce and industries have
the power to inspect any industry in the country and examine whether the
right industrial application was being practised ”, he said.
The Chemical Weapons Convention was ratified by 188 countries to make
sure that they use chemicals without causing harm to the industry and
also without being a threat to national security.
“When we say national security we see these chemicals are not used to
manufacture chemical weapons. On the other hand, we also want to ensure
that any hazardous material is not released to the environment that
would cause the deaths of people within a short period of time.
Therefore, national security and preventing industrial pollution is
entrusted with us”, he said.
“We inspect industrial zones under the purview of the Ministry of
Industry and Commerce. Basically these are small and medium type
enterprises. But large industries are operated under the Board of
Investment. Even though we want to go to inspect the industries under
the Board of Investment we have to take a special authority from the
respective parties and the organisations”, he said.
“Once you apply for approval to inspect the industries to give that
authorisation it might take two to three days. By the time most of the
industries are aware that we are visiting these organisations, and they
could take damage control measures and evade being detected”, he said.
“According to the convention we don’t need any authorisation from the
industries. The ID card gives us the authority to enter and check.
Basically we check whether they have chemical waste or in other words
mass balance”, he said.
“These inspections are good for the industries also, because if they
have any problem chemical weapon convention supports those
industrialists to correct the problems providing the knowledge and
expertise free of charge”, he said.
“Unfortunately these industries are not willing to take our support.
Sri Lanka cannot develop without these industries. We have to protect
industries which generate foreign exchange and provide employment.
I really don't understand why these industries are not taking it for
their advantage get the support from the Chemical Weapon Convention and
put the industry into the correct path. Otherwise this kind of
unfortunate incidents will never happen", Dr. Perera added .
Citing an example Dr. Perera said the Paranthan Chemicals facility in
the Kalutara Industrial Zone which produces chlorine gas for water
purification was forced to shut down because of the release of large
amounts of chlorine gas into the environment injuring more than 17
people in a nearby village of the Kalutara industrial zone in 2010.
"Unfortunately now we are unable to restart this facility in the
Kalutara industrial zone and due to that many lost their jobs and also
country faces a severe shortage of chlorine for water purification", he
added.
According to Dr. Perera what the Central Environment Authority does
is check effluence. They check whether the effluence could be released
to the environment. "But industrial inspection is not a possibility.
This is the basic problem because some of the industries conceive that
they have secret concepts and and are not willing to disclose the
manufacturing facility to other countries.
"They can come to the National Authority for Chemical Weapons
Convention with their proposals and discuss with us. We can immediately
give assistance. If we don't have the expertise we get foreign
assistance. We even assist them in product development and improve the
quality of products. |