WE DO NOT FORESEE A LONG-TERM IMPACT SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE X-PRESS PEARL DISASTER - NARA CHAIRMAN

When questioned about the spread of plastic pellets following the recent shipwrecks, Prof. Sanath Hettiarachchi, Chairman of the National Aquatic Resources and Research and Development Agency (NARA), said that they started observations as soon as the incident occurred.

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“We have noted that areas such as Jaffna, Mannar and Puttalam were affected around seven days after the incident. The plastic nurdles are drifting towards Delft, Nagadeepa and Punguditivu areas quite prominently, and the South Bar area in Mannar has also been affected. We are continuing our Environmental Damage Assessment, and we are analysing samples. We have observed that shoreline vegetation is contaminated with nurdles, but any effect from this contamination is yet to be assessed. The nurdles are there, but whether it would cause any long-term impact is not assessed, but we do not foresee such a long-term impact,” he added.