COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Thousands of produce traders at Sri Lanka's main market are protesting in the streets demanding that the government withdraw a new rule requiring all vegetables and fruits be transported in plastic baskets instead of sacks.
Business came to a standstill Wednesday at the central market in Colombo, the capital, when the traders started a sit-in protest on a main road. They were protesting a rule that makes compulsory the use of plastic baskets in transporting vegetables and fruits.
The government says the move was to stop colossal waste through damage while transporting perishable produce in sacks. But the traders say the rule is not practical because the plastic baskets hold smaller quantities of vegetables and take up too much space in their shops.
