The Marine Environment Prevention Authority (MEPA) is to handover a final damage evaluation report to the attorney general in the coming week with regard to the X-Press Pearl marine disaster.
MEPA chairman Asela Rekawa has told Neth News that it would be an amended one from a previous report with certain shortcomings.
The final report will enable the AG’s Department to file court action to seek compensation for the damage caused from the fire and the subsequent sinking of the ship carrying toxic chemicals.
Rekawa’s predecessor Darshani Lahandapura said Sri Lanka was set to lose if the compensation matter was taken to a court in Singapore.
She said legal action could easily be filed in a local court to the advantage of the country.
Meanwhile, justice minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has refuted allegations of a delay in filing the court case.
The minister has claimed that he has mediated after observing slowness in the process.
An evaluation report by a 40-member expert team expected by September 23, 2022 was received only in mid-January this year.
That report has been referred to the AG’s department for action, he said.
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