COLOMBO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday ordered a probe into the hazardous material being imported into the country from Britain which has caused a nationwide uproar in recent days.
In a statement, the Finance Ministry said that Samaraweera had directed officials from the Sri Lanka Customs Department to probe the containers which had arrived at the Colombo Port, containing human waste and other extremely hazardous material wrapped in mattresses and plastic, under the guise of recyclable metals.
Samaraweera has called for a detailed report from the customs officials as soon as possible.
Investigators said that over the past two years over 100 containers have arrived at the Colombo Port containing such hazardous waste.
Some media reports said the British government has also launched an investigation after Sri Lankan authorities said they would return the shipping containers back to Britain.
