DPL despair

• Company claims water contamination allegation is baseless, cites reports
• 25,000 people affected alongDPL supply chain
• Loss of forex, regional countries benefit at Lanka’s expense in the long-term:DPL
• Company says villagers’ misconceptions hard to change
• Cite WHO guidelines on pH: direct impact on human health from pH level cannot be ascertained
• Company is crumbling: Managing Director

By Dharisha Bastians Dipped Products Ltd., the beleaguered glove-manufacturing company at the centre of the Weliweriya controversy, yesterday pleaded to be allowed to reopen its doors following a four-month closure officials say has caused a steep decline in its global market share and negatively impacts Sri Lanka’s investment climate. Addressing a prolonged media briefing to outline the company position at The Kingsbury Hotel last evening, DPL senior officials said its longstanding customers had been compelled to seek out suppliers of household and industrial gloves in Malaysia, Indonesia and other regional markets following the factory closure. “The company is crumbling before our eyes,” said DPL Managing Director Dr. K.I.M. Ranasoma during a presentation about the Rathupaswala factory crisis yesterday. He explained that due to longstanding customer relations the company did not wish to endanger, DPL had resorted to purchasing products from other global suppliers and selling them to customers, incurring major losses. “Or sometimes, we are compelled to tell our customers to try to get the same product from this or that supplier,” Dr. Ranasoma explained. The company’s inability to resolve a baseless controversy and reopen its doors was eroding customer confidence in the operation, he added. The company says some 25,000 people along its supply chain have been indirectly affected by the four-month closure. “These are the silent sufferers. No one speaks up for them,” Dr. Ranasoma told reporters. DPL’s Venigross plant situated at the Rathupaswala village in the Gampaha District – where demonstrations over contamination of the ground water led to the death of three civilian protestors in August this year – has been closed since 30 July. The factory was shut down after area residents alleged effluents from the manufacturing plant were contaminating the ground water and reducing its pH levels. DPL officials say no tests conducted by multiple Government authorities so far have substantiated the claim. “The Government Analyst report, the Central Environmental Authority Report and the Water Board report have all failed to link factory waste to the contamination of the ground water in the area,” Dr. Ranasoma explained. Citing scientific reports on water from 2009, the DPL Managing Director said that in the Attanagalla Basin where the Rathupaswala area is situated, the pH levels were traditionally low. “That is the prevalent soil condition, the baseline condition in that area,” he explained. The controversy stemmed from water testing reports issued by the Kadawatha Water Board which found the pH levels were lower than normal and claimed the water was not suitable for drinking, the DPL Managing Director explained. He said that once thousands of such reports were issued as villagers got their water tested, it was difficult to change people’s perceptions in the area. Residents of Weliweriya, Rathupaswala and surrounding villages have complained of throat and stomach irritation when they consume ground water and skin irritation when the water is utilised for bathing purposes. But according to DPL, which cites WHO guidelines on the pH level of drinking water, a direct relationship between human health and the pH of drinking water is impossible to ascertain. “It is not considered to be necessary to propose a health-based guideline value for pH,” Dr. Ranasoma said, reading from the conclusions of a WHO paper on pH guidelines. Company officials claim that every attempt to reopen the factory following the closure and the ensuing violent demonstrations in August have been unsuccessful. “The people of the area simply will not permit us to open the doors,” the Managing Director explained. Dr. Ranasoma said that to assuage the villagers’ concerns, the company had pledged to truck in water for operations and truck out effluents at the end of the process late last month. “Everything was organised, we had got the bowsers and made arrangements at a great cost. But that attempt also proved unsuccessful,” he said. The company has appealed to Government authorities to explain the reality of the situation to residents and clear the misconceptions about the factory, but this has not received a response so far, Dr. Ranasoma said. He added that while the company has cooperated fully with testing procedures and engaged in discussions with all stakeholders to resolve the issue, the Government is yet to disclose the results of its investigations to DPL. “If there is a problem, we can tackle it and move forward. Please, let us open for business. We will be mindful of the people’s concerns,” the DPL Managing Director appealed. Backing DPL’s claim, eminent Economist Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, who was recently seconded by the Commonwealth Secretariat as an economic advisor to the Government, said Dr. Ranasoma had presented compelling evidence and added that DPL had a sound case. Dr. Coomaraswamy said that the handling of the DPL issue and the contamination controversy was sending a negative signal about how business was done in Sri Lanka. Explaining that Sri Lanka was at cusp of a historic economic moment, with the best development prospects in 50 years, Dr. Coomaraswamy explained that economic growth would be driven by export performance and Foreign Direct Investment. No country could sustain 8% growth over 10-15 years by depending only on its domestic consumption, the economist explained. “If such disputes are not resolved constructively, issues like the DPL closure impacts Sri Lanka’s export performance and discourages investment in the country,” he said. Health and safety of the people were paramount and it is essential that all necessary testing was conducted, Dr. Coomaraswamy emphasised. “But once completed it is important to resolve the issue as quickly as possible,” he said. DPL says the long-term consequences of the factory closure include a major loss of foreign exchange to the country and the loss of business to other regional markets and countries. Dipped Products Ltd. is a member of the Hayleys Group and manufactures household and industrial gloves from Sri Lanka that reach over 70 countries worldwide. The company has been in operation for 36 years and has over 200 global customers.