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Sri Lanka investigating ‘corruption’ in handling of 2021 cargo ship disaster | Environment News

Sri Lanka investigating ‘corruption’ in handling of 2021 cargo ship disaster | Environment News

Colombo, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka’s new government, led by left-wing President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, will launch a new investigation into the handling of the MV destroyed the island, the senior minister told Al Jazeera.

The announcement came amid allegations of corruption, delaying tactics and mismanagement in dealing with the aftermath of the disaster, and a lack of compensation for affected fishermen.

In May 2021, the Singapore-registered cargo ship caught fire near Negombo, a popular tourist destination off the west coast of Sri Lanka, releasing tonnes of hazardous substances, including nitric acid and microplastic granules, into the Indian Ocean.

The fire on the ship, which was traveling from the Indian state of Gujarat to Sri Lanka’s main city of Colombo, was believed to have been caused by a nitric acid leak. The toxic leak from the ship killed a large number of fish, turtles and other marine mammals, and destroyed the livelihoods of more than 20,000 fishing families.

Sri Lanka
In the sweltering heat of western Sri Lanka, nearly 200 women are still collecting plastic nurdles washed ashore by the X-Press Pearl disaster (Saroj Pathirana/Al Jazeera)

Three years after the fire and oil spill on the ship, people are still waiting for justice in the form of compensation and accountability.

Dissanayake’s government now plans to investigate the incident after the country’s parliamentary elections conclude on November 14. His National People’s Power (NPP)-led government alliance is expected to win the vote.

“There are many allegations about the X-Press Pearl disaster,” Vijitha Herath, the country’s minister of public security, told Al Jazeera and Watershed Investigations, a British-based nonprofit investigative journalism organization water issues.

“I am personally determined to find out the truth. We will leave no stone unturned.”

‘Risk of money laundering’

Based on an estimate by a 40-member expert committee appointed by the country’s Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) shortly after the disaster, Sri Lanka is seeking $6.4 billion from the London P&I Club, the British insurer of the X-Press Pearl. , as compensation for the environmental damage caused by the disaster. The lawsuit was filed in Singapore in April 2023 under the then government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

In September this year, a report by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), established to examine the handling of the cargo ship disaster and mitigate future risks, said that Sri Lanka has so far received almost $12.5 million from the London P&I Club.

In addition, MEPA received 3.5 million rupees ($11,945) over the past three years, while the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources accepted approximately 3 billion rupees ($10.4 million) from the London P&I Club – all in local currency, a fact that has raised suspicions of corruption and will now be investigated by the new government.

Sri Lanka
The incident occurred approximately 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 km) offshore. Locals remember the ship’s massive fireball, which led to a temporary fishing ban in the lagoon (Saroj Pathirana/Al Jazeera)

Darshani Lahandapura, the former head of MEPA, had led beach clean-up operations after the disaster. She told Al Jazeera that she was under pressure from the government to accept the compensation payments in local currency at a time when the country was experiencing its worst economic crisis, when inflation had soared and the Sri Lankan rupee was depreciating.

“Government officials (of the Wickremesinghe government) pressured me several times to accept the payment in Sri Lankan rupees,” Lahandapura said.

By asking to pay the compensation in local currency, “I think the shipowners tried to take advantage of the economic crisis and some government officials supported their demand,” she added. The value of the Sri Lankan rupee fell by almost 50 percent against the US dollar in 2022 as the economic crisis broke out.

Lahandapura told the PSC that she had “strongly opposed” accepting payments in rupees. But the insurers still made two payments in the local currency.

“In her view, accepting payments in rupees could pose a risk of money laundering,” the PSC said in its report, citing Lahandapura’s statement.

Al Jazeera contacted the London P&I Club for comment on the allegations but received no response.

Alleged delay in claiming damages

The PSC report concluded that the disaster “exposed critical gaps in the country’s ability to prevent and manage maritime pollution incidents.”

“The commission found that delays in legal proceedings and inadequate coordination between government agencies had exacerbated environmental and economic damage,” the report said.

Furthermore, the lawsuit seeking damages from the London P&I Club was filed by the Sri Lankan authorities 23 months after the disaster occurred, just days before the deadline set by international law was due to expire. The law requires that a claim for compensation in the event of a maritime accident must be filed within two years of the incident. The lawsuit was filed under then Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam.

“There appeared to be some lethargy or deliberate delay on the part of the Ministry of Justice (AGD) in handling the X-Press Pearl vessel disaster case,” Lahandapura, the former head of MEPA, told the parliamentary committee.

Sri Lanka
The X-Press Pearl transported almost 1,680 tons of plastic nurdles. Even three years later, mostly female workers continue to separate and collect the nurdles by hand (Saroj Pathirana/Al Jazeera)

However, then Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe blamed the MEPA for the delay in filing the lawsuit, saying the maritime agency had submitted its environmental impact report late.

According to an anonymous official source in the Sri Lankan government, the Ministry of Justice responded quickly to shipowners’ requests, but MEPA’s questions took a long time to be answered.

“I have no evidence that anyone at the AGD received any financial benefit, but if the country’s AGD was lethargic in handling such an important case, it certainly raises suspicions,” the source told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera has contacted the Justice Department for response to the allegation, but has not yet received a response. Al Jazeera also sought a response from Rajaratnam, under whom the lawsuit was filed, but he declined to comment.

Why Singapore?

Another controversial issue likely to be explored is the decision to have the compensation case heard in Singapore, where the ship was registered, rather than in Sri Lanka, where the accident occurred.

“What we advised was to conduct the trial in Sri Lanka,” Dan Malika Gunasekara, a legal expert appointed by MEPA, told Al Jazeera. “However, the Attorney General’s decision to file the case in Singapore raises serious questions as to how he arrived at such a decision, given all the surrounding circumstances, especially as to the consequences.”

Gunasekara referred to an issue also highlighted in the PSC report: because Singapore is a signatory to the Convention of Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC Convention), compensation could be limited to approximately GBP 19 million ($24.7 million ). . Because the government had estimated that legal costs could reach $10 million, that would leave only $14 million for cleanup and compensation.

Sri Lanka
Each woman earns about 3,000 rupees ($10) a day, with nurdles separated (Saroj Pathirana/Al Jazeera)

Critics say the decision to move the trial to Singapore has cost the Sri Lankan government dearly.

“The Cabinet of Ministers had initially estimated US$4.2 million as legal costs in Singapore, but this was later changed and US$10 million has now been allocated to the Ministry of Justice,” said Asela Rekawa, who succeeded Lahandapura as MEPA chairman.

“We were told that we had spent precious foreign exchange reserves at a time when Sri Lanka was in danger of going bankrupt due to the foreign exchange shortage,” said Professor Ajith de Alwis, co-chair of the MEPA-appointed scientific committee. “Furthermore, there was very little support available to study the issue in many ways.”

However, according to the PSC report, the London P&I Club had expressed concerns about coming to Sri Lanka “due to negative publicity and security fears” and preferred to participate in the compensation negotiations in Singapore.

The then Sri Lankan Justice Minister, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, also defended Singapore’s choice to litigate the issue.

“Singapore is home to thousands of shipping companies and no company would risk harming their operations by ignoring a Singapore court ruling,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that the decision was made after advice from an Australian law firm .

“In any case, it may have been difficult to enforce the judgment against a British company in a Sri Lankan court,” he said.

Nearly 20,000 fishermen have paid a total of almost $10 million, according to the country’s Fisheries Department, but the leader of the fishermen’s union said this was not enough.

“The fishermen received varying amounts of money depending on the area, between 10,000 rupees ($66) and 20,000 rupees ($900), but some had to appeal and almost 2,000 ‘indirect’ fishermen are still hoping to get some compensation,” Roger Peiris, a fishing union leader told Al Jazeera, referring to people who sell fish, own boats or those involved in the dry fishing industry.

“But I don’t even count this as compensation, it was just because I had no direct income. Compensation for fishermen is something that should be discussed separately. Fishermen would only receive proper compensation once the legal problems are over.”

This report is part of a year-long investigation supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network in partnership with Watershed Investigations.