MV X-PRESS PEARL: UN Experts to visit Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (News 1st): A team of UN experts in Marine Ecology is set to visit Sri Lanka to assess concerns pertaining to the MV X-PRESS PEARL disaster, the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) said on Wednesday (Jun. 16). According to a statement from MEPA, the UN team of experts on coastal conservation are arriving in Sri Lanka to advise the MEPA and Central Environmental Authority (CEA) on future action that should be taken with regard to the environmental destruction due to the X-PRESS PEARL disaster and the legal proceedings that should follow. The UN team includes an Expert in Toxicology and an Expert in Environmental Damage Analysis., Attorney-at-Law Dharshani Lahandapura, the Chairperson of the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) told News 1st. As per statement, MEPA has submitted an interim claim amounting to USD (United States Dollars) 40 million from X-PRESS Feeders/Sea consortium, the parent company of the ill-fated MV X – PRESS PEARL, which caught fire off the coast of Colombo on May 21st. Up to 200 km of the country's coastal line, stretching from the North-West to South has been cleared, the State Ministry of Urban Development, Coast Conservation, Waste Disposal, and Public Sanitation said in a statement. More than 1,000 tonnes of plastic and other waste scattered along the coastal area were collected and stored in 44 containers of hazardous waste of the Central Environmental Authority, the State Ministry of Coast Conservation noted.