The Center for Environmental Justice (CEJ) has filed a complaint before the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka requesting it issues an order instructing the owners and insurers of the X-Press Pearl vessel to pay compensation amounting to $ 6.4 billion to Sri Lanka for the environmental damage and pollution caused to the marine and coastal ecology of Sri Lanka and the atmosphere under the Polluters Pay Principle. 

The petitioners have also requested the HRCSL to order the state and other institutions responsible for this accident and ensuing disaster to fulfil their responsibilities in this regard. 

In the petition, the CEJ highlighted the events leading up to the disaster and the lack of preparedness of the Sri Lankan authorities to face such an emergency situation. The organisation also detailed the extensive damage caused to the country’s environment and that public monies were spent on the clean-up process. The CEJ said any such monies must be recovered from the owners and insurers of the vessel. The threat to public health and livelihoods were also other focus areas of the petition. 

The CEJ called on the HRCSL to declare that the Fundamental Rights of the Petitioners, as well as the rights of the entire citizenry and the future generations guaranteed to them under Articles 12(1) and 14(1)(g), have been infringed by the action or inactions of any one or more or all of the respondents. It also called on the respondents to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the fire on MV X-Press Pearl in order to ascertain the cause and parties responsible for the unprecedented harm and to submit a report to the HRCSL. 

X-Press Pearl hearing postponed to 15 May