• AKD finds ‘deal’ linking limiting compensation sum and filing case in S’pore, questions absence of AG’s rep

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and National People's Power (NPP) Leader and Opposition Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (11) raised concerns over the Government's failure to make a representation in a case that has been filed by the relevant insurance company in the United Kingdom (UK), requesting that the maximum amount of compensation that can be granted for the MV X-Press Pearl maritime disaster be announced as $ 26 million.

He also claimed that there could be an inter-connection between the non-representation of Sri Lanka in the relevant case, and the Government's decision to file the related compensation case in a Singaporean court.

Speaking in Parliament, Dissanayake said that there is a convention signed between the UK and Singapore according to which they come to agreements on the maximum compensation sum that could be paid with regard to a particular maritime disaster. "They come to certain agreements as to how much compensation that they would pay. Due to the convention, they (the insurer and the ship owner) can go to Singapore and obtain a court order on the maximum sum of compensation."

He explained that the relevant case has been filed with regard to the MV X-Press Pearl disaster: "The relevant insurer has filed a case in the UK, stating that they could pay only $ 26 million as maximum compensation. It has been there for one and a half years. We are one of the parties to the case, but why did the Attorney General's (AG) Department not appoint a counsel yet to make explanations from our end? $ 26 million is a very small sum of money for the insurer. So, they try to get us to agree to a certain limit. It is there that the deal with the officials who intervened in this case is going on."

Dissanayake further said that there is no need for an argument to be made in court to the effect that compensation should be paid for the disaster, but that more weight should be placed on the argument on the amount of compensation. "I do not think that there will be a discussion as to whether this compensation should be given or not. The important argument is about the amount of compensation. The expert committee has demanded a compensation of $ 6.4 billion. The entire case is based on the amount of compensation and what should be defended is not the argument that compensation should be paid or not. That is why we say that a lawsuit demanding a limit on the compensation is more powerful. We have to intervene in that, but we have not done so. There lies the problem. Why don't we intervene?" he queried.

If any limit on the sum of compensation would be imposed through the legal proceedings in question, he said that it would be in effect not in Sri Lanka, but in Singapore. "That verdict will be implemented in Singapore. If so, why did the Government also file the case in Singapore? This is the deal behind this. Working to get a limit imposed on the compensation sum and filing the case in Singapore are connected. It is not solely because of the legal arguments that this case was filed in Singapore. For instance, the authorities said that the company will not attend legal proceedings here, but they already attend several legal proceedings pertaining to the matter. So, how can it be presumed that they would not attend? There must be an understanding to say and do so," added Dissanayake. 

Several Opposition MPs, including Prof. G.L. Peiris, who represents the Supreme Lanka Coalition, were seen supporting Dissanayake during the latter's speech.

The Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, President's Counsel, Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was not available for comment. When contacted by The Daily Morning last evening, he said that he was attending the Parliamentary session.

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 have been brought under control by Sri Lankan firefighters by the late hours of 27 May. 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.