X-Press Pearl controversy Godahewa hits back at Justice Minister

The ongoing controversy over sunken X-Press Pearl has taken a new turn with former State Minister Dr. Nalaka Godahewa contradicting Justice Minister Dr. Wjeyadasa Rajapaksa, PC, pertaining to a statement made by the latter in parliament on the previous day.

Dr. Godahewa said: “I have been greatly prejudiced by a false statement made yesterday in this Parliament by the Minister of Justice Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse mentioning my name. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to comment on that.

Yesterday, Mr. Rajapakse made a statement that I have requested former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to move the New Diamond ship which had an accident in Sri Lankan waters in September 2020 from Sri Lankan waters. I find this to be a malicious misrepresentation.

Why do I call this a hateful statement?

The Minister of Justice himself tabled the order related to this release. The order has been given to the Naval Commander in an e-mail message by the former Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colomboge.It says clearly: Considering the danger of keeping the ship in Sri Lanka in this accident, the President has given instructions to remove the ship from the Sri Lankan coast before the sea becomes rough.

But this is not enough for Mr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse. He wants to involve me in this. Because at that time I was the Minister of State for Coast Conservation. That is why Mr. Rajapakse says that he spoke to former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and asked him about this to find out whether it is true or not. This is looking for the truth or not of the foreign secretary’s order.

Former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that Minister Nalaka Godahewa also asked about this, but he said that the ship should be released only after consulting the Attorney General.

This is what Mr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse is saying, that’s why I also spoke to the former president yesterday. At 11.50 am. I asked him whether it is true that MP Wijeyadasa Rajapakse says the following. He says to me, “Are you crazy? Don’t you remember that you didn’t want to send that ship at all? I told you to take legal advice and do something”.

After that I spoke to former foreign secretary Jayanath Colombo at 12:21.

What did he say? “Sir you have never spoken to me about this ship. Sir you have never spoken to me about this ship”

It is for this reason that I said this is a false statement.

Jayanth Colombage further told me that because this ship was a big ship with 270,000 metric tons of oil, if it had started to oil leak while it was in Sri Lankan waters, we would have suffered a lot. Therefore, the authorities must have decided at that time to take the ship out of the country’s coast as soon as possible.

Now any media person can ask the former president or the former foreign secretary about this. Ask when you get a chance.I do not understand the need of the Minister of Justice to involve me in this. Maybe it’s because I spoke a little strongly about the Anti-Terrorism Act and the delay in the X Press Pearl compensation.

Next, Speaker, I want to say something very important.Mr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse mentioned my name in connection with the New Diamond ship accident in 2020. Not in relation to the X Press Pearl ship, which is under a lot of controversy due to his own statement these days.

New Diamond and X Press Pearl are two ships. This is talking about two incidents

Many people have confused Mr. Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa’s statement about me with X Press Pearl. Even some major newspapers like Lankadeepa have made this mistake.

The X Press Pearl sank in June 2021. A few weeks after that, the State Ministry of Coast Conservation, which was under me, was assigned to Mr. Mohan Silva. Therefore, I have nothing to do with this in the last 22 months.

Regarding X Press Pearl compensation, there is a question about the delay in the work of the Attorney General’s Department. The problem that has arisen is that the filing of the case was delayed because of someone’s interest. Then find out who has the power to handle the Attorney General’s Department.

I don’t have that power. The Attorney General’s Department had a case against me for 7 years due to the false allegations of the good governance government. Such lawsuits are ultimately lost. We did not pressure the Attorney General’s Department to remove the cases.

You can find people who can influence if you look at the list of those who have had their cases withdrawn by the Attorney General’s Department in the past.Sometimes the thief who picks pockets in a bus runs out and points at others and shout thief because then people run after the wrong people.

We do not know if this is also their work.So please don’t confuse us due to some ulterior motives.

Do any test to find out about these. But don’t conduct false investigations and character assassinations to silence opponents like they did in 2015-2019. We support any investigation done correctly with honest intentions.Finally, I have to say that the problem is that if we tell the truth to the public, we will not be able to shut our mouths if we are intimidated.”