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Ecological devastation of X-Press Pearl disaster revealed in court

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By A.J.A Abeynayake

Deputy Solicitor General, Madawa Tennakoon yesterday told Colombo Magistrate’s Court that 176 turtles, 20 dolphins and four whales had been killed by the MV X-Press Pearl disaster.

Tennakoon informed the Colombo Additional Magistrate, Lochani Abeywickrama that a 39-member expert committee had confirmed that the toxins released by the disaster had caused those deaths. Investigations by veterinarians had confirmed the committee’s opinion, Tennakoon said.

The Deputy Solicitor General said that the captain of the ship, the operator and the local agent of the vessel had tried to conceal the real situation as regards the fire on board the ship. “The investigators have taken into custody the mobile phones of the 25 crew members of the ship and are using the photos taken by them to draw a real time line of the events. Legal action will be taken against crew members if they try to conceal information and mislead Sri Lankan authorities,” Tennakoon said. The Deputy Solicitor General added that the government had no intention of welcoming a burning ship to receive compensation from ship owners.

Deputy Solicitor General said that the relavant authorities had taken all necessary steps to douse the fire. Sri Lankan officials were told on 19 May 2021 that all the cargo has been safely loaded. Thus, the fault lay with the shipping company that mislead the government, Tennakoon said.



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National Trade Facilitation Committee Secretariat to be established

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The NTFC review meeting in progress

In an effort to accelerate trade facilitation commitments and bolster the business landscape in Sri Lanka, a high-level review of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) was conducted at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday (7).

The review focused on assessing the progress of trade facilitation commitments and scrutinizing the performance of the NTFC Secretariat. The private sector also voiced their views on expediting actions to ensure the completion of measures ahead of the projected timeline of 2025-2030.

In order to streamline compliance and optimize performance, several directives were issued during the meeting. Firstly, it was decided to establish the NTFC Secretariat under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance. Secondly, immediate measures to be taken to address the staffing requirements of the Secretariat and lastly, the budget allocated for the NTFC Secretariat in 2023, currently under the Department of Customs, was to be transferred to the Ministry of Finance to prioritize pending actions such as the development of the NTFC website and progress reporting system.

During the meeting, deliberations took place concerning the proposed National Single Window, a system aimed at simplifying and expediting trade processes. The participants agreed to expedite the submission of the proposal in a sequential manner to ensure its swift implementation.

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22 injured in bus – lorry crash at Embulgama

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More than 22 persons have sustained injuries when a Sri Lanka Transport Board bus plying from Akkaraipattu to Colombo crashed head on with a lorry at Embulgama on the Colombo – Avisawella Road this morning (09)

The injured had been rushed to the Homagama and Nawagamuwa hospitals. Hanwella Police are conducting investigations.

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PM discusses ADB future projects in Sri Lanka with ADB DG and new Country Director

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Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Director General for South Asia Kenichi Yokoyama and newly appointed Country Director Takafumi Kadono held discussions with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on Thursday (June 8) at the Temple Trees in Colombo.

The Prime Minister, while welcoming the new Director General thanked the outgoing DG, Chen Chen for the support extended to Sri Lanka during the height of Covid pandemic and the economic crisis. He thanked the ADB for extending short term, immediate contingency support which has helped Sri Lankan economy to recover from the unprecedented crisis within a short period of time. ADB loan funds amounting to USD 380 mn were targeted for enhancing fiscal space and efficient public financial management system as well as strengthening the SME sector with access to finance. Further USD 250 mn was obtained as budgetary support to develop Capital Market.

The Prime Minister made a special mention about ADB’s US$ 333 million emergency assistance to support import of essential items such as fertilizer, medicines and chemicals for water treatment, working capital support to SMEs, and cash transfer to most poor and vulnerable to mitigate the impact of economic crisis.

ADB Director General for South Asia Keinichi Yokohoma, praised the recovery made by Sri Lankan economy and briefed the Prime Minister about the ADB’s mid-term and long-term projects for economic progress and infrastructure development.

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