The Treasury has released Rs.1514.9 million to the Fisheries Ministry to pay the fourth round of compensation to fishermen who lost their livelihood due to the X-Press Pearl disaster in the seas off Colombo harbor in 2021. The relevant insurance company has provided the Treasury Rs.1,514.9 million as the fourth round of compensation to be paid through the Fisheries Ministry.
Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda has instructed the relevant officials to complete the payment of these compensations before the New Year. This amount is to be distributed by the Ministry of Fisheries to 16,867 fishermen and those engaged in fishing-related jobs through the Gampaha, Colombo and Kalutara district secretaries.
At the end of the fourth round of compensation, one fisherman will be entitled to between Rs.330,000 – Rs. 500,000 as compensation, depending on the fishing method used by the fishermen and the number of days the fishing ban was in effect. In three previous rounds, Rs. 1,477 million has been paid as compensation to the fishermen affected by the X-Pres Pearl fire.
Accordingly, by the end of the fourth round, the ship’s insurance company has paid over Rs. 3 billion to the government as compensation to the fishermen and others who lost their livelihoods due to the disaster. The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl container ship carrying a hazardous chemical cargo caught fire on 20 May 2021 while at anchorage 9.5 nm off Colombo Harbor due to a chemical leak in a container and burned for 13 days before the fire was put out on 2nd June. The ship along with its hazardous cargo sank afterwards.
Thousands of fishermen lost their livelihood when fishing from Panadura to Negombo (Ma Oya) was suspended the coastal area was declared a no-go zone due to the damage caused to the marine environment by the burning ship.