Colombo, Dec.27 - The damage caused to the marine environment after the X-Press Pearl ship tragedy should be calculated annually, and an expert research committee from the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) must be appointed to assess the marine environment damage, Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development Chairman Ajith Mannapperuma said.

Unfortunately, no expert team was appointed for the year 2023 to calculate the marine environment damage, and therefore, there was no report in hand to present if it was agreed to pay the compensation.

Commenting on this, the MEPA Director General said that the second interim request has been forwarded to the Justice Ministry and the Attorney General's Department.

"Even though MEPA asked in a letter from the Attorney General's Department how to proceed with the work of the expert committee appointed by his institution and its future needs, no proper reply was received from them. However, MEPA further said that they were informed by the Justice Ministry that the necessary cabinet approval for the appointment of an international, independent expert committee to continue the work of calculating the destruction is in progress and that the committee will carry out further work," he said.

"No appointment has been received for the academic committee for the year 2023, and no proper response has been received to the inquiry made by the Attorney General's Department," the MEPA Director General said. He told the committee that all the case reports are processed by the Attorney General's Department, and only necessary support can be provided by MEPA.