Environmentalists Allege Attack By Jiffy Workers in Sri Lanka

by Hafsa Sabry
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2015/10/11/environmentalists-allege-attack-by-jiffy-workers/
Violating the law is a punishable offence anywhere in the world but in Sri Lanka it seems that relevant authorities are not empowered to take legal action against them since the law violators continue to violate the law with legally accepted government documents and paper work. It is still a question why the responsible authorities in Sri Lanka hesitate to act against the wrong doers.
The Sunday Leader recently highlighted the Deduru Oya water contamination issue that existed for over five years in Kobegane, Nikawaretiya area. Jiffy Products, a coir dust exporting multinational company in Sri Lanka is alleged to contaminate the river water with Calcium Nitrate (Ca (No3)2) used to clean fibre, a chemical that has been prohibited by the Coconut Development Board of Sri Lanka.
It still has not been revealed how these coir factories were allowed to function with Environmental Protection License (EPL) while violating the most fundamental and significant clause of the National Environment Act that the EPL will not be issued by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) if the environment faces any threats from the company. Deduru Ooya, one of the largest rivers is being contaminated allegedly by the factory with calcium nitrate while the EPL license has been issued and renewed every year by the CEA.
The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jiffy products Norway, Dagfinn Andersen recently speaking to The Sunday Leader denied all allegations against the company adding that the researchers and the environmentalists should provide scientific evidences whether jiffy has contaminated the river or not. As it was a challenge to the environmentalists of the country they went to inspect and record evidence on the Deduru Oya contamination by Jiffy Products. However, they were attacked and threatened by a group of people allegedly from the factory. “While the inspection was going on and we were taking photographs of the contaminated river, a gang of around 30 believed to be the outsiders or the employees of jiffy, dressed in Jiffy jerseys damaged our cameras and attacked us to prevent us from recording evidences of the river contamination”, claimed Ravindra Kariyawasam, an environmentalist and a researcher from the Centre for Environmental and Nature Studies (CENS).
There was one monk among us whom they were trying to abduct but we defended ourselves and called the police, they arrived immediately. They did not take any action against the attackers but they acted against us. The police even checked our vehicles and cameras whether we have any photographs of the contaminated river.
Even though, the police was deployed immediately no proper action was taken against the attackers hence, we wrote to the Presidential Secretariat on Saturday (third) the very same night we returned to Colombo adding that a petition to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) will also be handed over on Friday as they began to receive threatening calls from several persons.
He also claimed that their attempt to lodge a complaint against the Jiffy workers who attacked them failed due to unknown reasons but one of the attackers was chatting amicably with the OIC while their statements were being recorded.
The Sunday Leader questioned the Police media spokesperson regarding this incident and the alleged refusal by the Kobeigane police to record the complaint from the environmentalists.
Responding to the questions Spokesperson ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said that a committee to look into the contamination issue has been appointed and the report will be submitted on Wednesday (seventh) adding that a case in Nikaweratiya magistrate court is also pending with regards to the water contamination issue hence no information can be revealed till the investigation and the case is over.
He also said that the CEA has appointed a committee to test the water samples from Deduru Oya and that the report had confirmed that the river water was negative with calcium nitrate hence there is no contamination in the river.
However, the North Western Provincial Deputy Director General officer of the CEA, Dissanayake said that it is proved in the test samples that the Jiffy Company has contaminated Deduru Oya River with calcium nitrate which raises a question as to why the statement of the police and the CEA officials contradict over the same issue.
He also claimed that since the Company in question have appealed the case to the higher courts, either the magistrate courts in Nikawaretiya or the CEA is unable to take any action against the company till the case is heard in the higher courts. “We have to take action against the company according to the courts order hence we wait for the court instructions to proceed further”, he said.
He further claimed that the Jiffy Company does not only allegedly contaminate soil and water but also the environment and the flora and fauna of the area since the factory is located in a sensitive geographical area of the country adding that the river banks of Deduru Oya is also being illegally used by the company whereas it should be a public property and the people should use it.
“The CEA have received many complaints from the public and the NGO’s of the country but there are some legal barriers to prevent us from taking any legal action against the company”, he stated.
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution separates the powers to the North Western Provincial Environmental Authority from the CEA in Colombo which is the main environmental authority in the nation. He also claimed that the company in question has violated the court order while obstructing the relevant authorities from inspecting the factory for contamination.
Nevertheless, the issue has also been brought to the notice of the President and the Environmental Minister Maithripala Sirisena hence the country hopes the relevant authorities and the police to take action to resolve the long standing environmental issues.