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‘Can we eat fish or not?’

14 Jun 2021

 
  • Consumers ask Health Director General

  • Cites DG as competent authority as per Food Act

By Buddhika Samaraweera    The National Movement for Consumer Rights Protection (NMCRP) said that the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) should make a statement to the public as to whether the fish available for sale are in a condition suitable for human consumption in the aftermath of the MV X-Press Pearl marine disaster. When contacted by The Morning to inquire about this, NMCRP Chairman Ranjith Vithanage said that the DGHS is the competent authority of the Food Act, No. 26 of 1980 as amended. “It has been a considerable time since the ship caught fire on 20 May and fishing has since been allowed in the previously declared no fishing zone, but the DGHS has so far failed to make a statement regarding the quality of the fish.” He added that due to the reluctance of the people to buy fish at present, the income of those engaged in the fishing industry has come down drastically, and that there is a likelihood of the prices of products such as chicken and eggs going up. Meanwhile, when contacted by The Morning, Fisheries Ministry Secretary R.M.I. Rathnayake said that studies which have been carried out have not revealed that the fish are unfit for human consumption. She further said that if the fish are unfit for consumption, the public will be made aware of it. “There are times when people are reluctant to consume fish. For example, during the tsunami disaster and in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, people abstained from consuming fish. But that situation is gradually returning to normal,” she noted. Attempts to contact DGHS Dr. Asela Gunawardena to inquire about the matter, were unsuccessful. The doomed ship MV X-Press Pearl carried 1,486 containers, with contents including 25 tonnes of nitric acid (which can be used in the manufacture of fertilisers and explosives), other chemicals, cosmetics ,and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets. It caught fire on 20 May, 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 kilometres) north-west of the Colombo Port, after an explosion aboard the vessel. A number of containers fell overboard, polluting the ocean with plastic pellets, among other harmful substances. Meanwhile, the carcasses of deceased marine life have been washing up ashore on the western coastline in the wake of the disaster, even though no official link has been scientifically found yet to attribute the marine creatures’ deaths to the said marine disaster.  

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