Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa said he was confident that the full compensation amount from the X-Press Pearl ship disaster could be obtained from the insurance company for the damage caused to Sri Lanka’s ocean belt, ocean living beings and the fisher community.
According to the Fisheries Ministry the fishing activities of Hendala, Wattala, Dikowita and Kepungoda ocean areas were badly affected following the ship disaster.
In addition to the Environmental Ministry several other authorised institutions including the Maritime Pollution Prevention Authority and the National Aquatic and Research Authority (NARA) also conducted investigations into the disaster.
The Minister further said he had instructed a team of 40 members who are specialised in ocean work to submit a full report to him regarding the ship tragedy and about the destruction caused to the Sri Lanka ocean waters.
The Minister also said he handed over a report to expert officials in relevant industries and thereafter the report will be handed over to the Attorney General Department to take legal action against the responsible insurance company.
The Singapore registered X-press Pearl container ship caught fire off the Colombo outer Harbor four years ago and nearly 1486 containers inside the ship were immediately removed to prevent the fire.
According to reports the damaged ship had about 81 containers with poisonous chemical substances,
SJB, MP Eran Wickramaratna addressing a press conference said according to the Government the actual damage caused to the Sri Lankan ocean environment due to the ship damage is about US dollars 6.2 billion. “Every step should be taken to claim this.”
Meanwhile, the former Provincial Council MP Niroshan Padukka said the country’s two main state institutions the Attorney General Department and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) are responsible to handle this case and they should move fast to act in this regard. “We know recently Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapaksa said that an amount of US Dollars 250 million bribes was paid to a local official to delay this compensation process and this should be probed.”