About 60% of plastic on X-Press Pearl unaccounted for - Environment Minister

Only about 40% of plastic that was aboard the MV X-Press Pearl has come ashore while the fate of the remaining 60% remains a mystery, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said. 

Participating in a progress review meeting on the incident held at his ministry, Minister Amaraweera said he had checked the list of items that were being transported aboard the vessel and had found that there were more than 190 items onboard, most of which is plastic. Some of the items were likely intended for other countries, he added. 

The discussion was held to review the progress of the work of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) so far.

"A large amount of plastic from the burning ship had been dumped on our shores. We have so far stored almost all of them in 44 containers in the Wattala area. According to the Central Environmental Authority, the containers contained 1034 tons of plastic pallets," the minister further said. 

The minister said that according to the information he has received, only 40 percent of the plastic on the ship came ashore. What happened to the remaining 60 percent has not yet been reported. Investigations have not been completed, but the plastic may have been destroyed by the fire, or they may be in the stomachs of sea fish, or they may have floated to other areas with the sea waves.

Even the United Nations however, has stated that this is the first time that more plastic has been added to the world's oceans at one time. Environmentalists have also stated that. Given the size of the carcasses of dolphins and sea turtles currently being washed ashore, it is clear that they are an effect of the process that caused the ship to catch fire, he remarked. 

"I have also served as the Minister of Fisheries. During the South-Western Monsoon season, sea creatures never die in this way. The other is that most of these carcasses are dumped on the west coast. That is, relative to the area where the ship caught fire."

The minister also instructed the CEA to immediately begin the process of obtaining annual accurate data on polythene and plastic products imported into the country as well as the release of polythene and plastics into the environment. He also instructed to formulate a systematic program to inform the investors who are interested in the products that can be used as an alternative to the plastic and polythene products which are currently proposed to be banned.