Environmentalist Dr. Ajanta Perera said that it is the responsibility of the Government to reveal to the people the destructive materials which entered our seas from the X-Press Pearl ship.
She was making a statement to the media yesterday (02).
She said further that with the sinking of the X-Press Pearl, the country will have to face a very severe environmental problem.
“It is a problematic situation that containers with Nitric Acid, Plastics and other hazardous waste are reaching the bottom of the sea,” Dr. Ajanta Perera said. “With time, these containers will start to rust and decay and the stuff inside them will definitely seep into the sea. Our environmental system will get destroyed. This will cause immense harm to the fishing industry. Not only to the sea in that area but the entire region will suffer damage.”
She said that when materials such as plastics and oil get into the lagoon, small fish and prawns will get destroyed. She added that it was very dangerous not knowing about what dangerous materials have got into the sea, from this ship.
“The Government should reveal to the people what was in those containers,” Dr Perera said. “Who will participate in the rescue operations? Has the international community been summoned? What is the company to which the ship belongs, going to do?”
She asserted that the answers to these questions should be revealed by the government. She added that the children and the future generation would have to suffer due to the environmental destruction caused by this ship.
