Following the deadly fire outbreak at a factory in the Katuwana Industrial Zone on Tuesday (21), which claimed five lives, the Environment Ministry said that it is taking necessary short-term and long-term measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The exact cause of the fire has yet to be identified, and the Labour Ministry has initiated a comprehensive investigation into the matter, with the report expected to be received today (24).
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (23), Deputy Environment Minister Anton Jayakody said that although the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) has confirmed that the burned factory had not renewed its environmental licence nor possessed an emergency plan. Under the prevailing law, the Authority does not have the power to shut down a factory for such violations.
"The prevailing law is not allowing the CEA to shut down a factory for these violations. But, we got the Bill approved with amendments in this regard, and further, we are making regulations to ensure the legal provisions for the CEA officials to legally act against these institutions," he said. While this is being positioned as a long-term move to prevent such future events by requiring factories to meet CEA guidelines, he said that he would be looking into the matter to identify loopholes in the current licence renewal process and that necessary actions would be taken.
"What we should immediately do is to inspect all of these factories to look into their condition of the licence, but, since there are still loopholes in the process, I would be focusing on addressing that matter first," he added.
Meanwhile, when contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday regarding the status of the investigation into the factory fire, Labour Ministry Secretary S.M. Piyatissa said that with the patronage of the Deputy Labour Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe, a discussion would be held with the fire brigades of Colombo and Kotte, and their observations at the incident site would also be taken into consideration. He added that future actions to prevent such events would also be discussed. According to him, the report on the matter will be finalised today.
A major fire at a safety helmet manufacturing factory in the Katunawana industrial zone occurred on Tuesday, claiming five lives. The following day, it was revealed by the CEA that the factory had not renewed its environmental protection licence after 2024 and also did not have an emergency response plan. Following the incident, Jayasinghe had instructed Ministry officials to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the fire.