Industrialists need to be socially responsible - CNCI

By Gamini Warushamana

The Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) has called upon industrialists to be more socially responsible by maintaining good governance and transparency in their industries.

“Two major environmental pollution issues were reported in chemical manufacturing industries recently in Weliweriya and Piliyandala. These incidents should serve as a warning to industries to review their production processes, safety measures and ensure the safety of employees and the community,” said CNCI, Chairman, Gamini Gunasekera.He said that for a business to be sustainable all stakeholders should benefit from it and if the companies are only chasing after profits, ignoring their social responsibilities, will be counter-productive.Businesses which ignore their social responsibility may not sustain in today's competitive environment where buyers are concerned about greener and cleaner products.

Chemical manufacturing industries in residential areas should be extremely cautious regarding these issues.

Regulatory authorities such as the Central Environment Authority (CEA), the Local Council of the area and the Government should strictly enforce regulations and regularly monitor the maintenance of standards.He said that the damage caused to the reputation of the companies and the financial loss due to the closure of factories in these two incident is huge.

Usually industries of this nature are not set up in populated areas. The area gets populated when employees and others who directly or indirectly benefit from the factories, settle down close to the factories or industrial zone.

When Union Carbide, India set up its plant in Bhopal it was barren land. The area became populated due to the factory and the gas leak in 1984 killed thousands of people. The top management of the companies has the responsibility to avert accidents of this type.

Gunasekera, a chemical engineer, said that in chemical industries the risk is always there and there should always be a plan to face such situations and accidents.

The workers should be trained and the management of the factory should have details of residents in close proximity to facilitate evacuation if the need arises.

Therefore, a close relationship with the community is essential and transparency of the operations of the industry will ensure safety and sustainability of industries. There are industries that have formed environment committees in the community and work closely with them, Gunasekera said.

CNCI is working with the National Cleaner Production Centre, Sri Lanka (NCPCSL) to educate industrialists and develop procedures on handling hazardous material and minimising environmental and social costs of industries, Gunasekera said. The Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy has directed the CEA to immediately list all industrial facilities that use hazardous chemicals and set up a database. This database will be used for regular islandwide monitoring of such industries and ensure that standard safety measures in chemical storage, transportation and waste disposal, are followed.