Courtesy Adaderana

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe says he has been tipped off on several occasions about a local official being bribed by the insurer of the tanker MV X-Press Pearl, which was gutted in a fire that erupted off the western coast of Sri Lanka two years ago.

The lawmaker made this staggering revelation while addressing a media briefing in Colombo today (April 18).

According to him, speculations are rife that a local official has received a bribe of USD 250 million from the vessel’s insurers to disrupt the litigation and compensation processes.

The justice minister said he has given directives to the Inspector-General of Police and the DIG in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to initiate an investigation to uncover the truth.

Sri Lanka witnessed what is considered as one of the worst marine environmental disasters after the Singapore-flagged container ship vessel, only three months after being commissioned, caught fire some 16 kilometers off Colombo in on May 20, 2021 while transporting 1,500 containers including 25 tonnes of nitric acid.

The fire that continued for nearly two weeks resulted in a massive spillage of damaged containers, microplastics, plastic pellets, chemicals and other harmful substances into the sea.

Following the disaster, the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) appointed a committee of experts comprising professors and other relevant top public officials to assess the damage.

The MEPA says it has provided all necessary documents to the Attorney General’s Department to prosecute the ship owner or the operator or the ship’s agents in Sri Lanka under the Criminal Law, in terms of Section 26 of the Prevention of Maritime Corruption Act.

As the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers is given to continue the litigation process in Singapore, the Attorney General’s Department recently mentioned that it is proceeding with the legal matter accordingly.

However, the committee of expert lawyers appointed to look into the matter has suggested that the prosecution be done in Sri Lanka to recover the estimated USD 6.2 billion in damages.

The decision to continue the legal proceedings in Singapore attracted criticism as it was deemed a very costly move.

According to experts, only 32 days are left to file a lawsuit on the matter.