29 May 2021 01:35 am Views - 131
By Yohan Perera
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday called for a broad independent probe on the tragedy of MV X-press Pearl which had caught fire in the seas off Colombo.
Issuing a special statement, Mr. Premadasa said an independent probe has to be conducted to determine as to who gave permission for the ship to enter Sri Lankan waters and into the vicinity of Colombo Port, whether the crew members informed the relevant Sri Lankan authorities that it was approaching the Sri Lankan waters and to determine as to how much Sri Lanka should claim as damages from the company which owns the ship. Mr. Premadasa also questioned whether Sri Lanka had received a sufficient amount as damages from the company New Diamond which caught fire within the Sri Lankan waters on a previous occasion.
“The situation has been discovered by the crew. The ship has been denied entrance to Port Hamad Qatar because of the leakage. Therefore it is important to determine as to who had given permission for it to enter Sri Lankan waters,” Mr. Premadasa said.
“Sri Lankan waters have been severely affected by the burnt ship. The environment as a whole has been affected. Water species have died due to the chemical emissions into the sea from the burning ship. Fish within Sri Lankan waters is no longer consumable while it is reported that there is an emission of Nitrogen Oxide to the environment.,” he alleged.