Experts raise concern over flawed survey of Lanka’s continental shelf

The work of a committee to draw the outer edge of Sri Lanka’s continental shelf has been referred to the Cabinet after experts made representations to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, saying its study was flawed.

Among those who have raised concerns are the Joint Convenors of the Our Nation and the Sea (ONS) Initiative, Dr.Hiran Jayewardene and Razik Zarook.

Dr. Jayewardene, who is also the Secretary-General of the Indian Ocean Marine Affairs Co-operation (IOMAC) said the survey methodology adopted by the committee on the delimitation of the outer edge of the continental margin (DECOM) to determine the one kilometre sediment thickness contour of the continental shelf was seriously flawed and needed urgent review.

He said if the methodology was not rectified, Sri Lanka would lose large areas of territory and territorial waters. The Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1981 unanimously made a special provision for Sri Lanka in a Statement of Understanding on the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf in southern Bay of Bengal.

According to this, Sri Lanka’s continental margin boundary will run along a line which joins points on the seabed where the thickness of sediment below is one kilometre.

Sri Lanka has time till 2009 to submit the scientific information relating to its continental margin boundaries. Mr. Zarook, a former chairman of the National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA), said the loss of continental shelf territory as a result of the flawed survey methodology would amount to more than the entire land area of Sri Lanka.

He said Sri Lanka can claim nearly 75,000 sq. kilometres legitimately in terms of the UNCLOS statement and gain access to vast resources of the sea bed and the sub soil. “This is as significant as winning our independence,” Mr. Zarook said.