NWPEA Is Violating Laws Claim Environmentalists

by Hafsa Sabry (Sunday Leader )
The North Western Provincial Environmental Authority (NWPEA) has come under severe criticism for permitting industries that violate one of the basic regulations of the National Environmental Act. These industries violate the NEA waste water management system, whilst NWPEA claims that the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) has no authority.
The CEA was functioning under the National Environmental Act 1980 provision No. 47 since 1981 issuing approvals for industries, Environmental Protection Licenses (EPL) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) to industries to operate in the approved areas. The NWPEA which was established in 1994 took over the duties of the CEA in the Northern Western Province without parliamentary approval.
The council however failed to implement the provisions of the NEA of Sri Lanka as it started to give approvals to industries which did comply with the NEA requirements. However, the provincial council claims that CEA has no powers over the North Western Provincial Council as it is an independent authority. According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the provincial councils in the country has no power over the central government body as it has the power to intervene with any provincial council, but the misinterpretation of the constitution has led to the assumption that the NWPEA cannot be ruled over by the CEA claimed the environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardane.
According to him, Section 23 of the NEA that was passed in 1990 was replaced with a new section in 2000 and, due to the misinterpretation of the clause the CEA claims not to have authority to over rule the approvals given by the NWPEA, whereas it has the sole authority to approve and grant the EPL throughout the country.
However, even after several years of granting approvals to industries that blatantly violate the NEA while, the council being the center of criticism by the environmentalists which acts independently violating the laws, the controversial, unclear articles and the clauses were not brought to t public discussion or before the high courts, therefore, the clause will remain misinterpreted whilst, allowing the NWPEA to act independently.
Nonetheless, the NWPEA acting independently allowing several law-violating industries in its province not only harms the environment but also put the health of the people at risk. Despite people and the environmentalists protests over the council issuing EPL for law violating companies, the issue is yet to be addressed by the government authorities. Political influence is the main cause why the issue has not still been addressed claimed the environmentalists.
Furthermore, Jiffy Products a coir dust exporting multinational company in Sri Lanka is alleged to contaminate the Deduru Oya river with Calcium Nitrate (Ca (No3)2), a chemical that has been prohibited by the Coconut Development Board of Sri Lanka for cleaning fibre.
For a long time it is known that lead is toxic to humans and major steps were initiated to reduce our exposure to lead. Today, the use of lead in household paint is banned, the use of lead in gasoline has been phased out, and lead has been eliminated in the manufacture of hundreds of other products, our exposure to lead still prevails.
Nico Battery Pvt. Ltd located in Bingiriya melt used batteries for extracting pure lead which is bought by the industries in the country for their use. Villagers in Puttalam Vanathavillu and Chilaw areas are also involved in extracting lead from used batteries in their homes, unaware of the health issues caused by melting ‘pure lead’ without appropriate safety measures. Meanwhile, lead was detected in the workers blood claimed the environmentalists. Furthermore, the waste management system of the company does not adhere to the requirements of the NEA while, contaminating the water source of the country with chemicals and wastes, they added.
In addition to these illegal lead melting, villagers of Madampe are also found melting metals in the area releasing Arsenic, Nickel, and Cadmium in to the drinking water source in the area, claimed the environmentalists.
“A rubber factory located in the Pannala area dumps waste water without a proper waste water management that leads water contamination in Ma Oya while a service center located in Giriulla with the EPL for nearly 20 years have been disposing their waste in to the river”, said the environmentalist and the Director for Central Environmental and Nature Studies (CENS) Ravindra Kariyawasam.
Lead and chemical contaminated waste water was allegedly dumped into the Ma Oya by these factories, and when the CEA intervened for legal action against the company, the NWPEA supported the company that violated the laws, alleged the environmentalists.
However, the alleged companies deny the allegation claiming that they have all the necessary approvals and they consider the environmental protection as their first priority. They also claimed that they have a proper waste management system and most of their wastes are being recycled and used for their industrial purposes.
The Sunday Leader questioned the Chairman of the CEA Professor Lal Mervin Dharmasiri as to what action has been taken against the provincial council to stop it from acting independently.
Responding to the questions Dharmasiri said that the president will call for another meeting with the politicians, secretaries from all the ministries, Chief Minister and the relevant authority officials to address the ongoing issue and to arrive at a sustainable decision.
He also said that the NWPEA will act jointly with the CEA in future as the central government authority has more facilities than the provincial council. In terms of technical equipment, human resources, physical resources and experts in the field, the CEA stands high hence the provincial council will be helped to carry their duties . The Director General for NWPEA D.M.K. Dissanayake said that the CEA has the authority on all the provincial councils in the country therefore the issue will be solved in near future as the NWPEA will also be monitored and if there is any law violating companies request for approval or EPL, the authority will strictly deny it ensuring that the environment of our nation is protected by the responsible authorities.