The extraction of some 48,000 tonnes of scrap metal from the X-Press Pearl shipwreck will not be permitted without an import-export license, state minister of finance Ranjith Siyamabalapitiya said.
Such extraction will be subject to a 10 per cent CESS tax, he said.
He said a discussion was held with President Ranil Wickremesinghe on the matter, where he said the law of the land applies to anything that exists within the country’s maritime border.
The MV X-Press Pearl with chemicals and plastic nurdles caught fire off Colombo Port on May 20, 2021, leading to the worst marine environment disaster in Sri Lanka.
