Around 300 private hospitals throughout the country are required to obtain Environment protection licences before the December 31 this year. Private hospitals are alleged to have been dumping their waste at Bloemendhal and other dumping sites causing major environmental pollution, the Environment and Natural Resources Ministry said. Environment and Natural Resource Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told The Island that all private hospitals would be required to obtain the Environment Protection Certificate from the Ministry. Those which do not comply will be prosecuted. The hospitals were found to be causing health hazard to human beings and animals by dumping of hospital waste in urbanized areas. He said that the Ministry had already drawn up a plan to destroy harmful materials dumped by hospitals. Minister Ranawaka added that the government hospitals such Ragama, Karapitiya and Colombo hospitals had maintained an acceptable garbage and hospital waste disposal system, but the garbage and hospital waste disposal of the private hospitals were extremely harmful. The Ministry had also found that around 7,000 large-scale industrial complexes were not being operated in accordance with the environmental protocol because these complexes had not installed required machines to control toxic fumes emitted by them. He added that there were around 70,000 factories and industrial complexes in Sri Lanka and those found emitting toxic gases or fumes would be detected and prosecuted by the Ministry.