Who Framed the Mattress Scandal? Inside the Logistics Trail That Wrongly Dragged the British Government into Sri Lanka’s Free Zone Controversy
By a Special Correspondent
For years, Sri Lanka’s infamous “used mattress” controversy has been presented to the public as a scandal with international overtones—one in which the British government was implicitly blamed for allowing environmentally hazardous waste to be shipped into Sri Lanka.
However, documents, regulatory records, and recent inquiries now raise a far more troubling question: was the British government deliberately misrepresented to conceal a private commercial dispute involving a logistics and shipping company operating from Colombo’s so-called “Iceland Building”?
The Origin of the Containers
Between 2017 and 2018, approximately 130 containers of used mattresses were imported into Sri Lanka by Ceylon Metal Processing Corporation Limited (CMPC), with freight forwarding handled by ETL Colombo (Pvt) Ltd. The consignment was routed to Advantage Freeze Warehouse, located within the Haley’s Free Zone (HFZ) at the Katunayake Export Processing Zone.
The mattresses were originally exported from the United Kingdom by Vangaads Ltd, a UK-registered private company, under a commercial recycling arrangement intended to process and re-export the material to a third country. At no point was this a government-to-government transaction, nor was it conducted under any British state programme.
Regulatory Intervention and Business Collapse
In 2018, Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) instructed that the operation be halted, citing regulatory and compliance concerns. Subsequently, the Hazardous Waste Management Division (HFSD) stopped recycling activities altogether.
By this stage, the project had collapsed financially. Of the 130 containers, 29 were re-exported, while the remainder remained stranded inside the bonded warehouse.
The CEO and director of CMPC at the time were Muthuraman and Sasikumaran, whose company bore contractual responsibility for compliance and onward processing.
The 2019 Media Intervention That Changed the Narrative
The controversy might have ended as a failed private venture—were it not for a dramatic media intervention in 2019.
That year, Derana TV was granted access to the gated BOI Free Zone, where it filmed the stockpiled mattresses and broadcast allegations suggesting that the United Kingdom had effectively “dumped waste” on Sri Lanka.
This raises two critical questions:
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How was a television crew allowed access to a high-security BOI Free Zone?
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Who provided Derana TV with detailed shipping, warehousing, and customs documentation?
The Iceland Building Connection
According to information now under review by authorities, a logistics and shipping firm operating from the Icelandi Building in Colombo is alleged to have coordinated the media access and supplied documentation to Derana TV.
Sources allege this was not an act of whistle-blowing, but retaliation.
The logistics firm reportedly had a commercial fallout with Haley’s Free Zone Limited, the warehouse operator where the containers were stored. Following that dispute, the firm is alleged to have collaborated with media actors to reframe a private contractual failure as an international environmental crime—conveniently shifting blame onto the British government.
A False Accusation with Diplomatic Consequences
Critically, the shipment:
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Was not initiated, approved, or sponsored by the British government
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Was conducted by private companies on both sides
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Involved Sri Lankan-owned British firms, including entities linked to Tamil entrepreneurs
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Fell entirely within commercial import/export and BOI regulatory jurisdiction
Yet the public narrative suggested foreign state culpability—an allegation that had no basis in government policy or diplomatic action.
Why This Matters Now
There are unconfirmed reports that regulators in the EU and the United States have raised questions about the handling of hazardous waste narratives and media disclosures linked to the Haley’s Free Zone. While no formal action has been announced, sources indicate growing concern over misinformation affecting international trade compliance reputations.
Meanwhile, it is alleged that individuals connected to the logistics firm in Iceland Building, who also major shareholders of the " Pickme" in question, have family and residential ties in the United Kingdom, adding a further layer of sensitivity to any deliberate misrepresentation of UK government conduct.
The Real Investigation Required
The unresolved issue is no longer about mattresses.
It is about:
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Unauthorised access to a BOI Free Zone
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Leakage of customs and logistics data
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Possible coordination between private logistics actors and media
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Deliberate misattribution of state responsibility
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Reputational harm to a foreign government
These are matters that demand investigation by Sri Lanka’s current government—not for political theatre, but for regulatory integrity.
If a private, small shipping and logistic firm based in the Iceland Building can weaponise media narratives to mask commercial failures and shift blame onto foreign states, then Sri Lanka’s investment zones are not merely mismanaged—they are compromised.
And that, far more than any abandoned mattress, is the real scandal.