The Court of Appeal which is inquiring into a writ petition filed by for Environmental Justice (CEJ) over Arsenic and Mercury in pesticides today (13) queried about actions that have been taken by the relevant government institutions to prevent pesticides from importing, distributing and selling in Sri Lanka which contains harmful constituents.

Accordingly Justice Deepali Wijesundara ordered the Attorney General to file a report in court by January 26, 2015-the measures taken by relavant  government institutions to prevent pesticides from importing into Sri Lanka. 

In this writ petition, the petitioner seeks an order in writ of Mandamus against the Registrar of Pesticides, Central Environmental Authority, Commissioner General of Agrarian Development, Consumer Affairs Authority and the Attorney General.  

The petitioner alleged that there were no actions taken by the Registrar of

Pesticides to bring the violators to the legal process although ROP accepted that there were 9 pesticides contain significant amount of Arsenic. These includes insecticide Accurator (Carbofuran 3%), and Herbicide Powermet 36% and 7 others. 

The petitioner further alleged that the relevant authorities (Respondents) had failed to respond satisfactorily up to date, though they were requested to take prompt action in performance of the statutory duty. Therefore, being aggrieved by the inaction, the Petitioner believes that it is necessary to take proper action in this regard exercising the powers of courts especially concerning the irreparable health and environmental damage. 

The petitioner maintained that the pesticides imported in to Sri Lanka contains harmful constituents such as Arsenic Mercury and other heavy metals and these unauthorized pesticides are imported to the country by submitting forged and illegal data and documents to the Sri Lankan Authorities so that these harmful pesticides are brought in to the country.

The petitioner further stated that the “Arsenicosis” is a chronic illness resulting from drinking water with high levels of Arsenic. According to scientific researches, it has found that these are cause number of cancer types including Skin cancer, Bladder cancer, Lung cancer etc.