Ms. Dharshani Lahadapura, Chairperson of the Marine Environment Protection Authority, agrees with the opinion of environmentalists that it will take about 20 years for the coastline damaged by the Pearl Ship to recover.
Although the environment adapts very quickly, she believes it will take some time for some sensitive environments to recover.
The fire has been reduced to a minimum, but there is a smoky fire, and two tugboats are continuously cooling the hull, she said.
She said there had been no reports of oil spills from the ship so far and that it would be a big challenge if there was an oil spill, adding that the ship may have caught fire or the fire had not yet reached the oil rig.
She points out that the beach has been severely damaged, especially the plastic beans on board, and that plans have already been put in place to remove these from the shore as soon as possible.
She also says that not all of these plastic beans have the ability to be cleaned, and that they can be destroyed by staying in places like corals. Pointing out that plastic is the biggest harmful thing to the ocean, she says this has become a problem for the whole world today.
She says that a police complaint has been lodged and further legal action will be taken and she is currently in the process of collecting data.
She urged the people not to go that way until the damaged beach is cleared and stressed that the maximum damage is upwards from the Dickowita beach.