Following a protest staged against the dumping of medical waste in privately-owned land in the North, authorities have taken steps to remove the waste. The protest had been staged by the residents of the area, highlighting the risk to environment and public health.
The privately-owned land in Jaffna had been leased a decade ago to build a state owned eye hospital. On the evening of 11 April, a group of Ariyalai residents staged the protest against the hospital authorities pointing out that the former was facing a health risk owing to the dumping of medical waste in the land.
Regional journalists say that a substantial amount of the waste has been removed.
However, protesters demand that further steps be taken to address the effect on natural resources including groundwater in the area.
The protest, which lasted for around three hours, blocked the Jaffna-Kandy main road in the Ariyalai area. Protesters had demanded the waste be removed immediately, and that a healthy environment be created for people to live.
A protester stressed that although a hospital has not been built, extremely harmful medical waste has been dumped in the land.
“This land was leased to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital 10 years ago to build an eye hospital. This land was not used for anything for a long time. However, recently a gross smell came from this land. When the residents in the surrounding area checked this place due to unbearable smell, they saw a massive amount of harmful medical waste including blood-stained pieces of cloth, needles, syringes, and saline tubes.”
Residents are not aware of how long hospital garbage had been dumped in the land, according to local reporters.
The land surrounded by a boundary wall, is also guarded by a security officer. In response to regional reporters’ questions, the officer had said that he was unaware of who set the waste on fire.
A protester told journalists that residents urge authorities to answer three questions.
“On what grounds was this medical waste dumped in a residential area? When will it be disposed of in a safe manner? Even after the removal of this waste, what will be done to prevent potential harms to groundwater and the environment?”
Adding that the Police’s attempt to stop the protest proved futile, regional reporters said that the residents did not agree to stop the protest until a hospital authority provides solutions to their issues.
Later, Jaffna Hospital Director T. Sathyamurthi met with the protesters, and promised that measures will be taken to remove the medical waste from the land. Subsequently, the residents of Ariyalai had stopped the protest, according to regional reporters.
