• The government will use US$ 3.7 million (Rs.750 million approximately) paid as a second slice of the rights claim demanded by the Marine Environment Protection Authority

By Sandun A Jayasekera  

After months long agitation and protests by thousands of fishermen from the North of Colombo, led by His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and the opposition, the government has decided to speed up the process of clearing debris of the ill-fated ship MV X press Pearl near the port of Colombo and pay compensation to affected families after more than a year, the Daily Mirror learns.   

The government will use US$ 3.7 million (Rs.750 million approximately) paid as a second slice of the rights claim demanded by the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) of Sri Lanka to pay damages to around 4,300 effected fisher families in addition to Rs. 5,000 that has already been paid, a spokesman of the Ministry of Justice said.  

 A supervisory committee comprising of representatives of relevant institutions has been appointed under the Director General of Commercial Naval Secretariat to supervise the process and to make sure that no oceanic pollution is taking place during the process of removing debris, the spokesman said.