A Sri Lankan investigation into nearly 3,000 tonnes of illegally imported hazardous waste has shown that some of it was sent on to India and Dubai, a top minister said Friday. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera told parliament the importer of the waste had reshipped about 180 tonnes of raw garbage to India and Dubai in 2017 and 2018. Sri Lankan customs insist the British authorities should not have allowed the export without first clearing with Sri Lankan authorities if they were willing to accept the untreated waste. The customs service said the consignment was believed to contain mortuary waste among other garbage which included large quantities of plastic. Sri Lanka customs authorities said Tuesday that the waste had been mislabelled and imported as used mattresses, but contained bio and clinical waste in contravention of international laws on the transport of waste material.

Source: Mint July 26, 2019 15:33 UTC