The Express Pearl ship was a hot topic in Sri Lanka two months ago. The sea and the environment were massively affected and the large number of sea creatures was also died. Many Sri Lankan fishermen also lost their daily business due to the ship fire. Another group’s fishing gear was destroyed. Fishermen who exhausted by the Corona, were out of the frying pan into the fire.
At that time the government was hoping to get compensation from the company that owned the ship. In the initial step, the country has received Rs.720 million as compensation. The Minister of Justice, Ali Sabri, has stated that out of this Rs.720 million, about Rs.420 million will be paid as compensation to the affected fishermen.
Accordingly, a discussion was held at the Ministry of Justice recently and the Ministry of Justice was announced to the media that attention was drawn to the awarding of compensation to the affected fishermen. It was also stated that according to the information received, money would be credited to the bank accounts of the fishermen and that action would be taken to compensate them by considering the accuracy of the information received from the fishermen in other districts who have lost their jobs due to the ship fire.
However, a group of fishermen staged a protest at a small boat dock in Beruwala yesterday (20), claiming that justice had not been done even two months after the Express Pearl ship caught fire.
The All Ceylon Fisheries Federation had organized the event to emerge the government “Don’t lie for two months after the sinking of the ship and pay immediate compensation to all fishermen”.
-Shani-