The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has agreed to provide expertise to Sri Lanka through its Technical Cooperation Department to mitigate the damage caused to the sea by the MV Express Pearl vessel’s disaster.
A request was made from the IAEA by the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board recently as instructed by State Minister Duminda Dissanayake to obtain the IAEA’s support on the matter.
Accordingly, the IAEA affiliated Marine Environmental Studies Laboratory in Monaco has made arrangements to support Sri Lanka in this endeavour, the State Ministry announced.
Under this initiative, the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) and Central Environmental Authority (CEA) teams will also receive technical equipment needed for this mission in addition to expertise, the Ministry said. An expert team from the Marine Environmental Studies Laboratory has agreed to share expertise online at the first stage and visit the scenes in the second stage for the purpose. This programme is mainly supported by the Foreign Relations Ministry of Sri Lanka.
(Daily news)
