Beefed-up Act will push Lanka to enter crucial treaties

With the revamped Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) Act now in the final stages of review by a panel of maritime law experts, the authority’s chief said it was “high time” Sri Lanka signed on to crucial conventions and part-conventions.

MEPA Chairman Darshani Lahandapura, however, rejected claims that current loopholes had hobbled the country’s battle for compensation over the X-Press Pearl sinking.

“While there are amendments that need to be made, the MEPA Act is a powerful one,” Ms. Lahandapura said.

“Provisions are set out for criminal liability and civil liability. Under civil liability we can claim damages for cleanups and the environmental losses.

“However, there are other important conventions that we are not party to, such as the Nairobi Convention on the removal of wrecks, and the Hazardous and Noxious Substances (H and S) by Sea Convention.”

She noted that another challenge was the lag between signing conventions and inculcating convention provisions into local practices through resource allocation and domestic laws. “These are all issues that have been addressed through the proposed new Act that is to come out shortly,” she said.

One notable omission was the fact that Sri Lanka was not party to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), which is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes.

This annexure, as the International Marine Organisation states, limits the main air pollutants contained in ships exhaust gas, including sulphur oxides and nitrous oxides), and prohibits deliberate emissions of ozone depleting substances.