Only 40% of plastic raw material in ill-fated vessel has washed up on beaches

By Ifham Nizam

The Environment Ministry’s latest study reveals that only 40 percent of the plastic raw material in the ill-fated X-Press Pearl vessel has washed up on beaches.

“What happened to the rest of the cargo is not known. Investigations are ongoing, but the plastic may have been destroyed by fire. Or it may have been taken away by oceanic currents,” Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told journalists yesterday.

“I have a list of items the ship was carrying. There were more than 190 items of cargo and most of it was plastic based,” he added.

The United Nations has stated that this is the first time that such a vast amount of  plastic has been added to the world’s oceans at one time.

“I have also served as the Minister of Fisheries. During the South- Western Monsoon season , sea creatures never die in this way. Most of these carcasses are found on the west coast directly affected by the shipwreck.”

The Minister has instructed the CEA to commence process of obtaining accurate data on polythene and plastic products imported here, as well as the release of polythene and plastics into the environment.