Expert committee focuses on preventive measures

The head of the expert committee appointed by Environment Minister Susil Premajayantha to probe the Piliyandala gas leak said yesterday they would submit a report with recommendations to prevent similar industrial accidents in factories dealing with chemicals.

The Committee head and Central Environment Authority Director General, Saranga Alahaperuma, said the committee members at their first meeting on Thursday decided that in addition to their observations on the Piliyandala incident, the report should also include recommendations to prevent such accidents in the future.

The four-member committee comprising officials from the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the University of Moratuwa, the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) and the Ministry of Health is expected to submit its report to Minister Premajayantha by November 7.

“We are collecting samples of chemicals and relevant data for our investigations,” Dr. Alahapperuma said.

He said the licence of the detergent factory at Piliyandala was suspended after last Tuesday’s gas leak as it appeared that it had violated the terms of the Environment Protection licence it had been issued with.

Asked why a licence was issued to the factory located in a residential area, Dr. Alahapperuma said the location was not considered an urbanised area when the factory was established in 1996.

He said the CEA’s field officers had been carrying out checks on this factory every three months and submitting reports.

He also said the CEA together with the United Nations Environmental Programme had launched a chemical accident prevention programme aimed at implementing proper safety measures at factories. He said the CEA would issue strict guidelines and adopt effective monitoring methods.

Meanwhile, Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana said the Kesbewa Magistrate Court had issued an interim order to close the factory until November 8 and the owner of the chemical factory had been barred from leaving the country.