Disaster caused by X-Press Pearl cargo vessel Only 40% plastics washed ashore: Minister

• The other 60 % might have either been perished by fire or swallowed by the marine  creatures or the floating plastic pellets might have washed away to  other areas with the tides

By Chaturanga Samarawickrama  

Following the debacle of the MV X-Press Pearl cargo vessel, which had burnt and sank in the Sri Lankan waters, only 40% of the plastic micro pellets in the ship have been washed ashore and there was no trace of what had happened to the remaining 60%, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.  

The Minister expressed these views while participating at a progress review meeting held at the Ministry and the discussion to review the progress of work of the Central Environmental Authority  so far.  

“A large amount of plastic from the vessel has been dumped on our shores. We have so far stored almost all of them in 44 containers in the Wattala area. According to the CEA, the containers are loaded with 1,034 tons of plastic pallets,” he said.  

“I have a list of items on board the sunken Express Pearl ship. They were not brought to our country alone. There could have been cargo for other countries also, according to the list. There are over 190 varieties of items, the majority of which were plastic,” he explained.  

“Investigations into the debris on the beach have not been completed yet. I also conducted research on this plastic material and, as per the information that reached me, only 40% of the plastic on the ship had been washed ashore. I am not quite sure what had happened to the leftover plastics. They might have either been perished by fire or swallowed by the marine creatures or the floating plastic pellets might have washed away to other areas with the tides,the Minister said.  

“However, even the United Nations stated that this  was the first time that a massive volume of plastic had been unleashed to the world’s oceans in a single instance.Environmentalists have also stated that, given the size of the carcasses of dolphins and sea turtles currently being washed ashore, are the consequences of the inferno,” he said. 

The Minister also instructed the CEA to immediately begin the process of obtaining annual accurate data on polythene and plastic products imported into the country as well as the release of polythene and plastics into the environment.  

He also instructed to formulate a systematic programme to inform investors who were interested in products that can be used as an alternative to the plastic and polythene products which were currently proposed to be banned.