- Activist seeks probe into MEPA, AG’s Dept and key Ministries
- Alleges President met vessel insurer; PMD denies claim
Environmental activist Dr Ajantha Perera, one of the petitioners who secured the Supreme Court (SC) ruling on compensation for the MV X-Press Pearl disaster, has lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), seeking an investigation into the conduct of several State institutions and alleging that President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake met representatives of the insurer of the ill-fated vessel.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (2), Dr Perera said that she had lodged a complaint with CIABOC over the matter and provided a detailed statement about a week ago.
“I’ve lodged a complaint with CIABOC seeking an investigation into all the allegations relating to the MV X-Press Pearl disaster, but they’re not doing anything at all. They recorded statements from us. They wrote down everything that we said, but they didn't do anything at all.
“Basically, I asked them to investigate the Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA), the Attorney General’s (AG) Department, and the Ministries of Environment and Finance. All the records of those institutions should be thoroughly looked into because we know that there are lots of bribery issues there.”
Dr Perera further claimed that she had received information that the President had met representatives of the MV X-Press Pearl’s insurer and challenged him to publicly clarify whether such a meeting had taken place.
“I know that the President has got a letter from the P&I Club insurer, and I have come to know through very reliable sources that they’ve met with the President. He should never have done that. He should tell the people very clearly if he didn't meet them. If not, we have nothing to do but to believe that he has met them. If he met them, that's the biggest corruption that happened in this country,” she alleged.
When contacted by The Daily Morning regarding Dr Perera’s allegations, Presidential Media Division (PMD) Director General Prasanna Perera said that no such meeting had taken place between the President and the insurer.
Her allegations come amid a separate complaint lodged with CIABOC by the Medical and Civil Rights Professional Association of Doctors (MCPA) concerning the conduct of three SC Judges in relation to an order that terminated proceedings connected to compensation arising from the X-Press Pearl disaster.
The X-Press Pearl caught fire off the coast of Colombo on 20 May 2021 and was engulfed in flames by 27 May before being declared a total loss. The vessel sank on 2 June 2021 while being towed to deeper waters after burning for 12 days.
The disaster released hazardous chemicals and plastic pellets into the sea, causing extensive damage to Sri Lanka’s marine environment, fishing communities and coastal ecosystems. It has been described as the country’s worst marine ecological disaster.