Sri Lanka bans ship carrying contaminated Chinese fertiliser from entering Colombo port
Colombo, Oct 24 (FN Agency) Sri Lanka has issued strict directives that a ship carrying contaminated fertilizer from China is not to be allowed entry into Colombo Port. This comes days after Sri Lanka suspended import of Chinese fertilizer after it was found contaminated with a bacteria that is harmful to crops. However, the bulk carrier ‘Hippo Spirit‘ carrying the contaminated Chinese fertiliser was still in the Sea of Sri Lanka. According to newsfirst.lk website, the Colombo Port Harbour Master said he has issued stern directives preventing the ship’s entry. The Harbour Master told newsfirst.lk that the Plant Quarantine Authorities had informed him that the stock of Chinese fertilizer on the ship was contaminated and therefore should not be allowed into Sri Lanka. However, reports reveal that the ship had informed certain local authorities that it would arrive at the Colombo Port on Friday (Oct 22).
The ‘Hippo Spirit’ is carrying 20,000 Metric Tonnes of Organic Fertilizer from China to Sri Lanka. The Harbour Master said he had no information of the location of the ship. The ‘Hippo Spirit’ ship’s maritime location has not changed for two weeks, with the ship remaining stationary in the Malacca Strait, as seen on www.marinetraffic.com, said newsfirst.lk. This development comes after Sri Lanka’s Secretary to the President and the Agriculture Secretary advised to secure a court order to suspend payments to the Chinese company that shipped the contaminated organic fertilizer to Sri Lanka. The State Ministry of Agriculture noted that as tests proved that the Chinese fertilizer was not suitable for Sri Lanka, the fertilizer has been rejected. On September 29, Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage announced the suspension of organic fertilizer imports from China after lab tests revealed the presence of harmful bacteria in the samples.
The fertilizer was from the Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd. Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture confirmed that a microorganism identified as ‘Erwinia’ was discovered in samples brought down ‘unofficially’ to Sri Lanka and tested. On Friday, Sri Lanka’s state-owned Ceylon Fertilizer Company Limited got a court order to block payment to China’s Qingdao Seawin Biotech over the latter’s shipment of contaminated fertilizer. The Sri Lanka government cancelled plans to import 99,000 metric tonnes of organic fertiliser at a cost of $63 million from China’s Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co Ltd. after harmful bacteria was detected last month. Colombo has decided to import fertiliser from India instead. On October 20, the first consignment of nano nitrogen liquid fertilizer from India arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake for distribution to farmers with paddy cultivation having already begun. The consignment of 100,000 litres was brought onboard a Sri Lankan Airlines A330-300 flight and is the first of the 3.1 million litres of nano fertilizers that is to be imported to Sri Lanka. Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told Parliament that laboratory tests conducted on the organic fertiliser samples sent from India have confirmed that they were suitable for use in Sri Lanka.