The Former Chairperson of Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) Dharshani Lahandapura yesterday (23) questioned why the Minister of Justice, Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe does not reveal the person who has allegedly received a $ 250 million bribe to scuttle the legal proceedings seeking compensation from the MV X-Press Pearl disaster.
Speaking in a TV program held last week, Lahandapura stated that it is important to find out about the allegation made by the Minister about an alleged person who received the bribe. She said that not knowing who is involved, creates a risk of all the parties who were engaging in the process of investigation, of being labelled as corrupt.
"The Minister of Justice had made a statement that he had handed over the relevant information to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He also said that he has the information about the name of the concerned person, the account number and the country where the alleged bank is located. I would like to ask him to submit those details not only to the CID but also to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) as it is very important to find out about the relevant person who engaged in such a crime,” she said.
According to her, there are a lot of people and institutions involved in the X-Press Pearl investigations therefore the responsible authorities must take actions to reveal the person who brought them all into disrepute.
"At the time of this incident, I appointed an Expertise Committee comprised of several experts to investigate this matter. It was a committee made up of former professors, maritime experts, etc. There were many reputed people there. Due to such allegations, others may have more doubts about who the accused person is. If you know the information, please disclose it," she urged the Minister.
Lahandapura was the MEPA Chairman from 2020 to 2023 when both the MT New Diamond tanker and X-Press Pearl cargo vessel caught fire. Lahandapura has also come under criticism by many parties for not taking immediate actions to prevent the destruction caused by the two incidents. She was also questioned by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) regarding the legal proceedings.
Meanwhile, the Police Media Spokesperson Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Attorney Nihal Thalduwa yesterday (23) told The Daily Morning that the CID is carrying out further investigations into the bribery allegations levelled by the Justice Minister.
The Singapore-flagged container ship MV X-Press Pearl, only three months after being commissioned, was gutted in a fire that erupted off the western coast of Sri Lanka on 19 May 2021. Following the disaster, the MEPA appointed a committee of experts comprising professors and other relevant top public officials to assess the damage. The panel handed over its second Environment Damage Assessment Report to the Attorney General’s Department on 13 January 2023.