- Deleted data stored in the Digital Laboratory of the Government Analyst’s Department inaccessible due to technical error.
- Rs. 121 million required to restore the system.
The Colombo Additional Magistrate has been informed that a period of three months will be required to obtain the specialist report to ascertain who deleted information and official emails related to the X-Press Pearl ship which was involved in a disaster in Sri Lankan waters in May 2021.
Deputy Solicitor General Madhawa Tennakoon representing the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Keminda Perera of the required time for the report while presenting facts on the case during a hearing yesterday.
The Deputy Solicitor General informed the judge that the deleted data is stored in the Digital Laboratory of the Government Analyst’s Department, which has been inaccessible for four months due to a technical error.
Therefore the emails related to the X-Press pearl disaster are inaccessible until the system is restored. Tennakoon also explained that according to quotations from IBM, a sum of Rs. 121 million would be required to restore the system and make the data accessible. Three months had lapsed due to the inability to proceed with the procurement process as elections were held recently, he explained.
A case was filed against the local agent of the ship company and seven of its employees for failing to obtain the necessary approvals for the ship to enter Sri Lankan waters and for also deleting important emails with regard to the incident.
A large tranche of emails critical to the X-Press Pearl fire investigation were deleted, containing information about the vessel’s entry into Colombo Port. The emails, exchanged between 10-21 May 2021, were removed or altered, as revealed in court.
The vessel, X-Press Pearl, which was transporting hazardous chemicals caught fire off the coast of Colombo in May 2021, resulting in a number of its cargo toppling into the sea.
Various cargo, including chemicals, and plastic pellets washed ashore along the Western Province coastal belt causing a massive environmental impact on the coastal line.
In May 2023, the Attorney General filed a claim in the High Court of Singapore over the X-Press Pearl incident involving six defendants.
In August 2023, the then government announced that the owners of the ship had agreed to compensate by paying a sum of Rs. 301 Million for the environmental damage caused by the fire. (Newswire)