The leather industry earns about 70 million rupees a year, according to the Industrial Development Ministry sources. However, this tannery business often comes under public criticism due to the ‘foul smell’ it emits during the process of production. While the public on one hand is agonised with such conditions, the tannery owners on the other hand seem to be facing difficulty as they have problems regarding relocation.
The Sunday Times was alerted about such a situation by some occupants of an apartment complex in Rajagiriya which is close to a tannery. The occupants complaining about the stench, on conditions of anonymity said; “Once the skin is brought to the tannery, the stench remains for a couple of days”.
“Sometimes the stench is there for about a week; then it is even difficult to breathe,” another occupant said, adding that she had come to live there from Scotland last year.
On contacting the tannery owner concerned, the Sunday Times was informed that this particular tannery has been in existence since 1936. “When the tannery was set up initially, this area was a jungle. Gradually, the area was developed and people started settling down. When the area was becoming residential, we also felt the need to relocate,” the owner said. However, he said, since several attempts to relocate had failed, they were operating through compulsion.
“We are conscious of being environmentally-friendly as well as being concerned about the surrounding residents.”
He said, they had spent a lot of money on the government-assisted Bata Atha project in Ambalantota where it was originally planned to set up a complex to relocate all the tanneries. The main objective of this project was to have the bulk of tanneries in one location with a common effluent plant and efficient and economic waste processing to meet the environmental standards.
“However, when the project was abandoned when they were a few months away from relocation, the government gave us the assurance to continue in the existing locations and develop the tanneries to meet the environmental standards,” the owner said, adding that they are yet to get compensation for the money spent on putting up buildings in the plots allocated to them for relocation.
Further, he said of the two possible methods of tanning, chemical and vegetable tanning, they practice the latter. In this form, tanning material is extracted from the bark of a tree and as such the waste discharge is harmless to the environment. “It is more of a natural process. A negligible amount of chemicals are used for the preparation process.
Speaking about the general regulations pertaining to the tanneries, Director, Ministry of Industrial Development T.M.B. Manike said some of the requirements needed in establishing a tannery are an Environmental Certificate with approval by the Ministry of Industrial Development and a SLAT certificate. (SLAT is a private organization formed by the Sri Lanka Tanners Association). According to her, currently there are eight legal tanneries in the country (seven private tanneries and one state run tannery which was also privatised recently).
However, the director said 15 years ago there was a court order to the effect that no new tanneries can be opened in Colombo and Gampaha areas owing to environmental regulations but the existing tanneries can continue.
Asked what the current proposal is in addressing the issues concerning the tanneries she said that the tannery business plays a vital role in terms of a major income generating avenue and as such it is important to protect this industry. The latest proposal however is to allow the existing tanneries to function in the same locations and to ensure they comply with the environmental standards by way of development.
Some solutions to the problem
There seems to be some kind of hope for the affected public, and tannery owners, following a project conducted by some Indian experts, who were brought down to the country by the Ministry in September last year.
Following the failure of the Bata Atha project, the experts conducted a comprehensive study of each tannery in Sri Lanka in terms of what needs to be done to promote environmentally-friendly standards such as implementation of cleaner technologies, chrome management and effluent treatment, the director said.
The report suggested specifications on effluent treatment plants for each tannery. Here the effluent treatment is proposed in two stages – chemical (Primary treatment) and the biological (secondary) methods.
In addition, to better implement the project proposals, demonstrations/ training were conducted and modifications were suggested. They were also informed of the benefits they could envisage through these methods.
The good news is that under this treatment system there is a solution for the foul smell as well. “When they treat the waste in a systematic way, there won’t be a smell,” the director explained. The Japanese funded E-friend project is providing assistance to implement the proposals, she said. |
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