The judicial proceedings with regard to the MV X-Press Pearl maritime disaster should be expedited and the relevant Government agencies should support it, said environmental scientist, Dr. Ajantha Perera.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, she said that nearly three years have passed since the incident, and that there is no progress in the relevant compensation process. “The relevant Government institutions are so lethargic, and are waiting doing nothing. If this kind of incident happened in another country, they would have finalised the relevant processes quickly. Our institutions should also fulfill their responsibilities quickly, and help expedite the relevant legal proceedings,” she said.

Being one of the petitioners who has gone before the Supreme Court seeking compensation for the environmental damage caused by the said disaster, she also criticised the Attorney General's (AG) Department's decision to file the related case in a Singaporean court, and charged that a sum of around $ 4.5 million would have to be spent on the relevant proceedings. “The AG was of the view that local attorneys are not capable of handling this case, and therefore, he (President’s Counsel Sanjay Rajaratnam) went to a Singaporean court. I think that he is going to retire soon. Let`s hope that the next AG would work to bring this matter to an end,” she said.

Attempts to contact an official who would make a comment on behalf of the AG proved futile.

The Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development recently claimed that the AG`s Department did not attend the Committee's sessions on the MV X-Press Pearl disaster. The Committee had then sought President Ranil Wickremesinghe's intervention to direct the AG's Department to assist its affairs in relation to the matter. Wickremesinghe had then directed his Secretary Saman Ekanayake to look into the matter and take appropriate measures.

On 20 May 2021, the MV X-Press Pearl caught fire off the coast of Colombo. The vessel was engulfed in flames by 27 May and declared a total loss. It was still afloat, and the fire was thought to be under control by Sri Lankan firefighters by the late hours of 27 May 2021. After burning for 12 days, the vessel sank on 2 June as it was being towed away to deeper waters. The incident was deemed the worst marine ecological disaster in Sri Lankan history for the chemical products that spilled.