The local agency of the Singaporean company that owns the MV X-Press Pearl, which caught fire on 21 May and sank in Sri Lankan waters, has informed the Supreme Court that it is ready to pay compensation to the fishermen affected by the fire.
President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva, appearing for the local representative of the Singaporean company that owns the ship, said in the Supreme Court that the company was awaiting a court order to pay the full amount as there were several cases related to the burning of the ship.
This was stated by the President’s Counsel when a petition filed against the government’s decision taken to suspend fishing from Panadura to Negombo due to the MV X-Press Pearl fire, was taken up for consideration last week.
The petition requests the court to issue an order to the government to pay Rs. 500,000 each to every fisherman affected by the MV X-Press Pearl fire.
The petition was taken up before a panel of judges headed by Supreme Court Judge Vijith Malalgoda.
The President’s Counsel requested that all the petitions be considered on the same day as several petitions have been filed regarding the incident.
The court accepting the petitioners’ request to allow the revision of the petition ordered the petitioners to file the amended petition within four weeks.
Rev. Father Sarath Iddamalgoda, a human rights activist and two professional fishermen Gamini Fernando and Warnakulasuriya Christopher Sarath Fernando filed the fundamental right petition on 23 June.
The petitioners state that they had learned through the media that the MV X-Press Pearl had been refused entry into ports in Qatar and India due to a chemical leak in the ship.
The petitioners allege that in spite of such a dangerous situation, the Sri Lankan authorities had inadvertently neglected their duty by allowing the ship to enter the Port of Colombo.
The petition further states that many fishermen have lost their livelihoods due to the government’s ban on fishing off the coast from Negombo to Panadura after the accident.
The Singapore-registered containership caught fire on May 20th while at anchorage 9.5 nm off Colombo Harbor due to a chemical leak in a container and burned for 13 days before the fire was put out on 2nd June. The ship along with its hazardous cargo sank afterwards.
X-Press Feeders, operators of the X-Press Pearl, through the vessel owner’s P&I insurers, have made an initial payment of US$3.6 million to the Sri Lankan government to help compensate those affected by the consequences of the fire and sinking of the vessel. Discussions are ongoing on the payment of further claims and all legitimate claims will be considered, the owners have said.
2000, 2020 by LankaPage.com (LLC)