The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) permanently closed 41 factories during 2025 for operating without renewing their Environmental Protection Licences, Director General Kapila Rajapaksha has disclosed.
Rajapaksha revealed the enforcement record while explaining the recent deadly fire at a factory in the Katuwana Industrial Zone in Homagama, which killed five workers, Ada Derana reported. He said the factory involved in that blaze had failed to renew its Environmental Protection Licence (EPL) after 2024.
“We had informed the management of the factory in writing and verbally on several occasions to formally complete the relevant environmental criteria and obtain the environmental protection report. However, they did not pay due attention to it,” Rajapaksha said.
Beyond the permanent closures, the Director General said the CEA temporarily shut down a further 19 factories that breached environmental laws and regulations in 2025, and issued legal notices to five others.
He stressed that the authority does not act against violators immediately, as due legal process must be followed. Factories found in breach are first given an opportunity to rectify identified deficiencies. If they fail to comply, official legal notices follow field inspections, and factories that continue operating without valid licences despite those steps face closure.
The disclosure follows the CEA’s earlier confirmation, reported by NewsFirst on July 22, that the destroyed Homagama safety-helmet plant had not renewed its licence and had failed to submit mandatory documents — including a fire safety action plan and noise, air-quality and waste-disposal reports — required to keep the EPL granted in 2023 valid.
The Katuwana fire on July 21, which trapped more than 80 workers inside a multi-storey building, has intensified scrutiny of industrial safety and environmental compliance across Sri Lanka’s factory sector.
