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The Pirates of the X-Press Pearl: Parliamentarians in finger-pointing game
View(s):By Sandun Jayawardana
Accusations flew thick and fast between the government and opposition benches this week as Parliament went ahead with a two-day debate on the X-Press Pearl disaster despite strong objections from Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. 
Moved by the opposition, the adjournment debate was initially supposed to be a one-day debate scheduled for Wednesday. The Committee on Parliamentary Business which met on Tuesday, though, decided to extend it to a two-day debate after Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena informed Parliament that the Government was willing to defer Thursday’s Central Bank of Sri Lanka Bill debate.
Justice Minister Rajapakshe, however, had other ideas. He rose to a point of order just as Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kurunegala District Parliamentarian Thushara Indunil opened the debate for the opposition. Mr. Rajapakshe insisted that the House should not be holding the debate as it contravened Parliament’s standing orders that prevent discussions of matters that are being heard in court.
Minister Rajapakshe pointed out that the Attorney General had already filed a case on the matter in Singapore’s High Court seeking compensation amounting to USD 6.4 billion from the vessel’s operator or insurer. In addition, several cases are pending in local courts over the matter.
The Minister defended the decision to file legal action in Singapore, noting that the vessel’s registered owner is in Singapore while its charter party is also registered there. If the compensation case against them had been filed in Sri Lanka, authorities would not be able to even serve them summons, he pointed out.
He claimed Sri Lanka’s case had already been hurt by certain irresponsible statements made by some MPs.
Amid shouts of anger from the opposition benches that he was disrupting a debate moved by the opposition, the Justice Minister called on the Speaker to make a ruling on whether the debate could go ahead in this situation, but warned that he would not participate in it. “I am not prepared to associate my name with the traitors who are calling for this debate,” he said.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena then called for a special party leaders’ meeting to decide on the matter, much to the frustration of opposition MPs, who pointed out that party leaders had decided only the previous day to not only hold the debate but also to extend it to two days.
The debate eventually went ahead after the Speaker announced that party leaders had decided that all matters that could have a negative impact on the court cases related to the X-Press Pearl would not be discussed during the debate. It was further decided that the debate would primarily be confined to policy matters regarding the need to protect the environment. Minister Rajapakshe had also decided to participate in the debate, it was further announced.
Nevertheless, lawmakers from both sides did not hesitate to liberally hurl accusations at each other over who was to blame for the worst maritime disaster in Sri Lanka’s history.
The whole saga surrounding the stricken vessel has raised serious suspicions regarding the conduct of certain government agencies such as the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) and the Attorney General’s Department, SJB MP Indunil told the House.
While stressing that Sri Lanka was a more conducive place to file a compensation claim, the MP pointed out that it took the AG’s Department two years to file the case in Singapore and that it waited till almost the last minute before the expiration of the deadline to take legal action. “There is a huge risk in filing this case so late. If it is thrown out based on a technicality, we won’t have enough time to refile it,” he warned.
Mr. Indunil also claimed the AG’s Department and MEPA were no longer being given direction by the Government on how to proceed. “This entire matter is a mess now and it leads us to suspect that there is someone within the Government who has an interest in making sure it remains that way.”
SJB Puttalam District Parliamentarian Niroshan Perera alleged that fishing communities affected by the disaster were yet to be properly compensated. He referred to the allegation levelled by Justice Minister Rajapakshe that an individual named Chamara Gunasekara based in the UK had received a bribe amounting to USD 250 million to delay taking legal action against the X-Press Pearl disaster. “You can’t funnel a bribe just like that to the UK, which has stringent anti-money laundering laws. We also know that this Chamara Gunasekara does not exist. We still don’t know for certain who is behind these efforts but you can’t wash your hands of the matter by claiming you have handed it over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID),” Mr Perera said.
As the chief legal officer of the state, the AG took the sole responsibility of deciding where and how a case would be filed, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told the House.
Mr Sabry, who was formerly Justice Minister said he knew how complicated the X-Press Pearl case was. “Lawyers may have different opinions regarding this matter but we all know there aren’t any lawyers in Sri Lanka who have the expertise to provide legal advice on such a complicated maritime disaster. The AG himself conceded this and said we needed international assistance. We can’t take a risk and file such a case for practice. Who will take responsibility if we did that and lost the case? That’s why we obtained foreign legal assistance,” he said.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa noted that the container vessel New Diamond also caught fire off the Sri Lankan coast several months before the X-Press Pearl. “This Government learned nothing from both the New Diamond and X-Press Pearl disasters. Its preparations (for such disasters) have been lethargic, improper, underfunded, and lacking technical and professional expertise. Yet it claims to be a ‘smart’ government. The government has been anything but smart, both under Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe. It is only talk and no action.”
He asked for the identities of the “traitor or traitors” who allowed the ship to enter Sri Lankan territorial waters while it had a leaking container full of toxic chemicals, even as ports in two other countries refused it entry. “The government tried to prevent us from moving this debate by claiming it would impact court proceedings, but we have to raise these questions,” Mr. Premadasa said.
Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara was critical of the opposition’s conduct during the debate, stating he believes irresponsible statements made by some MPs have already caused serious damage to Sri Lanka’s legal case. Mr. Wijesekara, who was State Minister of Fisheries at the time of the X-Press Pearl disaster, defended the Government’s response to the disaster. He also dismissed the allegations that the Government had imposed a no-fishing zone in the region surrounding the vessel due to pressure from the vessel’s operators. “That was done solely in the interest of the health of our citizens. If we had allowed fishing in the immediate region, then the fish that would have been contaminated due to pollutants from the vessel would have found their way to the consumer,” he said.
The incident had increasingly raised many suspicions, which were only confirmed when Justice Minister Rajapakshe spoke both in Parliament and outside about a USD 250 million bribe regarding the disaster, said National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka. “No one in the government or the opposition is saying something didn’t happen, so, clearly, something did happen. The question before us is what happened and who is responsible.”
The NPP leader lashed out against what he said was a “cabal of rogues” who were determined to profit from any tragedy that befell the nation. “If those in positions of responsibility in this country are people whose decisions can be swayed by bundles of dollars, even regarding a disaster whose future impact cannot even be measured, then isn’t that a colossal tragedy?” he asked.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Gampaha District Parliamentarian Nalaka Godahewa, who is now with the opposition, had come under attack from those in the Government over his role in the New Diamond and X-Press Pearl incidents given that he was the State Minister of Coast Conservation at the time. He vigorously denied the allegations, claiming the Government was engaged in character assassination now that he was with the opposition.
Regarding, the decision to release the New Diamond vessel, Dr Godahewa denied that he was responsible for ordering the vessel’s release, claiming that it had been ordered by the then Foreign Secretary. “MEPA only got to know about it after the vessel was released. Even then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa did not know about it until it was done. We will support the setting up of a Select Committee to look into these incidents,” he said.
Parliament will reconvene at 9.30 am on May 23.
| 15-member PSC to be appointed to give recommendations Parliament on Friday approved the appointment of a 15-member Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to investigate into and to make suitable recommendations relating to the disaster caused by the New Diamond and X-Press Pearl Vessels in the Maritime Zone of Sri Lanka. The Chair and Members of the Committee are to be appointed by the Speaker and it must present its report to Parliament within two months from the first meeting of the Committee or within such further period as Parliament may grant. A group of 21 MPs had submitted the motion calling for the setting up of a PSC to look into the incident. The MPs asked for the PSC noting that the catastrophe caused by New Diamond and X-Press Pearl Vessels has caused a huge damage to the marine ecosystem and aquatic species of Sri Lanka during the last few years. The MPs had pointed out that a controversial discussion on various interventions and weaknesses caused during the accident and its aftermath has cropped up again in society. Several deals between the vessel’s insurance companies and the incidents with names of several individuals related to those deals have been disclosed in and outside the House of Parliament by a number of MPs and the media had given extensive publicity to those revelations, they had added in their motion. | |
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