X-PRESS Pearl still pollutes Sri Lankan coast: State Minister

The environmental impact caused by the X-PRESS Pearl ship is far from over as it still pollutes the coast, State Minister Arundika Fernando told Parliament today.

Speaking during the debate on X-PRESS disaster in the House, the state Minister said nurdles of the ship still flow into Sri Lanka’s coast. “Ship was carrying substances such as Ammonium Nitrate which affects human and the marine species,” he said.

Also he said it is not clear whether Sri Lanka could secure damages at least to the worth of X-PRESS Pearl ship though the case was filed in Singapore. “Sri Lanka would have been in a better position when it comes to the case being filed in Singapore and if the wreckage of the ship was brought to Sri Lanka. My personal opinion was that the wreck of the ship should have been secured by Sri Lanka. We would have used it as physical evidence,” the state Minister added.

Further, he revealed that Sri Lanka has received only a portion of the payment as interim damage from the ship owners.  

“The opinion of the 40-member expert committee was that a case should have been filed in Sri Lanka in order to secure damages. This was my personal opinion as well, but there would have been issues pertaining to summoning the accused to Sri Lankan courts," he said coming up with more staggering disclosures.(Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)