The second consignment out of 242 garbage containers which were illegally imported to Sri Lanka from the United Kingdom have been sent back to the country of origin as per the Court of Appeal’s order by the Sri Lanka Customs yesterday.

Sixty five such containers, which were lying inside the Colombo Port premises, were sent back via cargo ship ‘MV EVER GOVERN’ yesterday, Customs Media Spokesman and Additional Director General Sunil Jayaratne said.

Another two cargo ships ‘MV MSC QINGDAO’ and ‘MV MSC LEANNE’ carrying seven and 10 containers respectively are scheduled to leave the Colombo Port today.

Accordingly, under the second stage a total of 82 container loads of garbage imported from the UK will be sent back.

“Under the first consignment, the Sri Lanka Customs took steps to send back 20 garbage containers to the UK on October 30. The rest will be sent back to the UK in the future,” Jayaratne further said.

The operations in this regard are being conducted by the Sri Lanka Customs officers under the directives of Director General of Customs, Major General (Retired) G.V. Ravipriya who has instructed to finalize the inquiry relating to these containers immediately and take stern action against the culprits.

Another 21 containers which were not included in this stock were also repatriated to the UK by the Customs on September 26 this year.

Out of the 242 containers, 112 were lying in the Colombo port and 130 had been kept at the Private Hub Operators premises, which functions under the Board of Investment (BOI).

Those containers had been imported violating the provisions of International Basel Convention and also the Sri Lanka Customs Ordinance.