Marine experts attempt to prevent environmental disaster

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan |  Jun 4 2021

 

Efforts continue by marine experts, such as the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) and Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), to mitigate the ocean and coastal pollution due to the fire and subsequent explosion of the X-Press Pearl cargo ship, which finally sank on Wednesday (3). 

Initial reports have found no change in pH levels in the ocean and lagoon. “We are awaiting results on tests conducted on seabed species,” said State Minister of Fisheries, Kanchana Wijesekera, yesterday. He also said MEPA has formulated a strategic plan in case there is an oil spill from the sunken ship. 

Booms and skimmers will be used around the vessel and strategic locations, and a spray will be used to disperse any potential oil slick. There are also contingency plans for full beach clean-ups, he tweeted. Meanwhile, Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), yesterday, announced that it aims to launch a probe into the charred X-Press Pearl containers in the water, as it may cause an environmental disaster. The sunken vessel is currently sitting on the ocean floor at 22 mt depth with the aft left to be visible, 9.5 km off Colombo Port, in Dickovita beach area. 

The NARA has been monitoring and conducting tests on marine resources and coastline around the country impacted by the Singapore-flagged ship that caught fire on 20 May. The Indian Coast Guard is also monitoring the situation of the shipwreck site. Currently, India’s Samudra-class hightech Pollution Control Vessel (PCV), Samudra Prahari is on standby. 

The other Pollution Response Vessel, Vaibhav is also engaged in this mission. Vessel Vajira has returned to India and will be on standby if there is an emergency call, the Indian sources said. RV ‘Samudrika,' a research vessel from the NARA, operated by the Sri Lanka Navy Hydrographic Service (SLNHS) was deployed on 1 June to collect water and sediment samples from the sea area where the ship lies. It is revealed that there were 78 metric tonnes of plastic nurdles on board the ship. 

The badly burnt ship, carrying charred containers on board was to be for about 30 mn to avoid further sea pollution on 2 June, but that plan was aborted as the ship began to sink. As the NARA and several other local authorities continue to coordinate a joint operation to mitigate the impact of the burnt ship to avoid further possible environmental damage, the Government, at the Media briefing, said certain factions are blaming it for the unfortunate incident. 

 “Some claimed the Qatari and Indian ports had denied entry and we had granted permission, which is incorrect. The ship entered both ports and then carried their cargo as well and sailed to Colombo,”

Minister of Ports Rohitha Abeygunawardena said many are using the fire to attack the Government to gain political mileage and they have to tell the public what really happened. He said the ship fire was an “unfortunate” incident and there was nothing political about it. “Some claimed the Qatari and Indian ports had denied entry and we had granted permission, which is incorrect. The ship entered both ports and then carried their cargo as well and sailed to Colombo,” he added. 

SLPA Chairman Daya Ratnayake reiterated that the adverse weather delayed dousing the fire. Between 24 and 26 May over 39 hours, the cyclonic condition hampered the mission of dousing the fire, he added. The Harbour Master added that as said before the ship arrived and the usual permit was granted after seeing the manifest or the list of cargo that was to be unloaded in Colombo, transshipment cargo, and transit cargo. The Harbour Master reiterated that they were not informed by the Captain of any issues on the ship prior to entering Sri Lankan waters. He said there were no explosive chemicals mentioned in the list that needed approval from the Defence Ministry. 

The ship had arrived at midnight on 19 May and on 20 May afternoon there was smoke and later a fire, he added. He also said while in the anchorage, the ship Captain sent some pictures of the leak in the cargo, while they were working on the arrangements to call the ship to the terminal. These are normal, he said, which any ports attend to. 

It's part of the normal operation, where when such problems are brought up, it needs attention and service. Reworking is part of a normal operation, he added. He also added that they always follow the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) code while loading and unloading the consignments.  

கடலுணவுகளை அச்சமின்றி உட்கொள்ள முடியும் - அமைச்சர் தேவானந்தா உறுதியளிப்பு

கடலுணவுகளை உட்கொள்வதற்கு மக்கள் தயங்கத் தேவையில்லை என்று தெரிவித்துள்ள கடற்றொழில் அமைச்சர் டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா, கப்பல் விபத்துக்குள்ளான கொழும்பு மற்றும் கம்பஹா  மாவட்ட கடல் பிரதேசத்தில் மீன்பிடி செயற்பாடுகளுக்கு தடை விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது எனவும் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

கொழும்பு துறைமுகதிற்கு இரசாயனப் பொருட்கள் அடங்கிய கொள்கலன்களை ஏற்றிவந்த சரக்கு கப்பலில் ஏற்பட்ட வெடி விபத்தின் காரணமாக உயிரினங்களுக்கு கேடு ஏற்படுத்தக்கூடிய  இரசாயனப் பதார்த்தங்கள் கடலில் கலந்திருக்கக் கூடும் என்று அஞ்சப்படுகின்றது.

இதன்காரணமாகக் கடலுணவுகளை உண்பது தொடர்பாக மக்கள் மத்தியில்  ஏற்பட்டுள்ள அச்ச நிலையை நீக்கும் வகையில் கடற்றொழில் அமைச்சர் மேற்கண்டவாறு தெரிவித்தார்.

இதுதொடர்பாக அவர் மேலும் தெரிவித்திருப்பதாவது,

"இதுவரையில், குறித்த சம்பவத்தினால் கடல் வாழ் உயிரினங்களுக்கு  பாதிப்புக்கள் ஏற்பட்டிருப்பதாக உறுதிப்படுத்தப்படவில்லை.

எவ்வாறெனினும், கப்பலில் விபத்து ஏற்பட்ட நேரத்தில் இருந்து சம்மந்தப்பட்ட கடல் பிரதேசத்தில் மீன்பிடி நடவடிக்கைகளுக்கு தடை விதிக்கப்படடுள்ளது.

அதேவேளை, கடலில் கலந்திருக்கக் கூடிய பாதார்த்தங்கள் தொடர்பாகவும், அவற்றினால் உருவாக்கக்கூடிய தாக்கங்கள் தொடர்பாகவும் கண்டறிவதற்கான ஆய்வுகளில் நாரா எனப்படும் தேசிய நீரியல்வள ஆராய்ச்சி  நிறுவனம் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளது.

குறித்த ஆராய்ச்சி அறிக்கை கிடைக்கும் வரையில், சம்மந்தப்பட்ட கடல் பிரதேசத்தில் மீன்பிடிச் செயற்பாடுகளுக்கான தடையை இறுக்கமாக அமுல்ப்படுத்துமாறு அதிகாரிகளுக்கு அறிவுறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது.

அதேவேளை, போக்குவரத்து கட்டுப்பாடுகள் விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள காலப் பகுதியிலும் நாடளாவிய ரீதியில் கடலுணவுசார் போக்குவரத்துகளை மேற்கொள்வதற்கு அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

எனவே, பேலியகொட உட்பட நாடளாவிய ரீதியில் உள்ள  சந்தைகளில் கொழும்பு மற்றும் கம்பஹா போன்ற சந்தேகத்திற்கிடமான கடல் பிரதேசங்களைத் தவிர்ந்த ஏனைய  பிரதேசங்களில் இருந்து கொண்டு வரப்பட்ட கடலுணவுகளே விற்பனை செய்யப்படுகின்றன என்ற அடிப்படையில்,  அவற்றை உட்கொள்வது தொடர்பாக மக்கள் சந்தேகம் கொள்ளத் தேவையில்லை" என்று  தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

https://www.fisheries.gov.lk/web/

Sri Lanka calls on US House Foreign Affairs Committee NOT TO proceed with Resolution

Saturday, 5 June 2021 

Sri Lanka on Thursday formally called on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) not to proceed with H. RES. 413 on Sri Lanka moved by Congresswoman Deborah Ross (Democrat/North Carolina) on 18 May. In a letter addressed to HFAC Chair Representative Gregory Meeks (Democrat/New York) and Ranking Member Representative Michael McCaul (Republican/Texas), Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the USA Ravinatha Aryasinha said: “Sri Lanka vehemently opposes the contents of the Resolution which contains allegations relating to Sri Lanka that are inaccurate, biased and unsubstantiated, raising grave suspicion regarding the intention of the Resolution.” 

The letter was accompanied by a detailed analysis of the Resolution, which laid out paragraph by paragraph, its prejudicial nature. The Ambassador observed that the proposed resolution which equates the LTTE – proscribed by the US since 1997 and named by the FBI in 2008 as ‘among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world’ – to an ‘armed independence organisation’, exposes the Resolution’s origins and purpose. The Resolution encourages separatism and questions even the nature of the Sri Lanka State, by references to ‘Traditional Tamil Homelands’. 

This not only misrepresents established historical facts, and present-day realities, but also contributes to supporting the dismemberment of Sri Lanka, which is the ultimate goal of the LTTE and its supporters. Ambassador Aryasinha said the resolution’s wilful ignorance of the USA’s own security concerns about the LTTE and its front organisations and efforts at glorification of terrorism would give inspiration to rump elements of the LTTE and its numerous front organisations within the US and across the world, as well as to other terrorist organisations. Observing that the USA had been “a consistent defence partner of Sri Lanka, including in Sri Lanka’s war against terror,” the Ambassador said:

 “The Resolution which is at significant variance with stated US policy, across Administrations – both Democratic and Republican, may lead to an erroneous conclusion that the House supports armed acts to achieve political goals. This would undermine the US Administration’s own foreign policy foundation of being rooted in democratic values, and negatively impact the warm bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and the USA.” It asserted that the Sri Lanka Government, having struggled for nearly 30 years to defeat LTTE terrorism, consistent with its constitutional duties to protect its citizens regardless of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion or place of birth, launched a humanitarian operation to protect and liberate all Sri Lankans. 

It also outlined the measures taken by the Government since the defeat of terrorism in May 2009, to address the needs of 300,000 internally displaced who had been used as human shields by the retreating LTTE, to rebuild and develop infrastructure in the conflict-affected areas and to restore livelihood opportunities to many, including to over 12,000 ex-LTTE combatants – also comprising 596 child soldiers, who were rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society. Ambassador Aryasinha recalled that following the ending of the conflict, the then government in 2013 conducted Northern Provincial Council elections, ensuring democratic freedoms and rights to the people of the north. 

He noted that since 2017, all minority parties in Parliament, including the TNA, supported the deferral of elections, through a ruling that required electoral reform prior to holding PC elections, which never materialised. For nearly three years, the HRC or Western countries having not taken issue with the delay of elections to Provincial Councils, including that of the Northern Province, however, presently have projected it as a major issue, at a time the current Government has taken the initiative to appoint a Parliamentary Committee to make recommendations on this matter. Noting that reports on Sri Lanka cited in the Resolution, including the OISL Report of 2015, constituted a mere subjective narrative of events including ‘desk-reviewed’ information, the Ambassador said that these documents failed to reveal sources and were not verifiable. 

On the contrary, there was an abundance of verifiable evidence that has been ignored, contained in, inter alia, the Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the ‘Paranagama Commission’, reports from the UN and international agencies including the UNDP, UNICEF and the ICRC, as well as information presented before the UK House of Lords by Lord Naseby challenging among other things the vastly-exaggerated civilian casualty figures. Expert opinions including by international legal luminaries, as well as dispatches in real time by Colonel Anton Gash, Military Attaché of the British High Commission in Colombo and statements by Lt. Col. Lawrence Smith who had served as Defence Attaché of the US Embassy during the last phase of the conflict, also contested this narrative. 

Ambassador Aryasinha also observed that, having had Sri Lanka co-sponsor UN Resolution 30/1 in October 2015 and extracted a commitment that Sri Lanka would initiate an accountability mechanism which would include foreign judges and lawyers, which was unconstitutional, for five years neither the UN bodies nor the US and other proponents of this resolution, pressed the previous Government to carry out its promises. 

He said, calling for an ‘international mechanism’ at this juncture was sinister, at a time the present Government had provided a credible transparent domestic process to address the concerns raised, by in January 2021 instituting a Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI), which had on 4 March “invited any person, persons or organisations to submit written representations or information or any other material which relates to the above for the Commission to inquire”. The Commission has been conducting hearings since April and heard testimony from witnesses.