Aboud knocks Govt over ‘late’ oil-spill report

Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) corporate secretary Gary Aboud is demanding transparency from the Government on the recent offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Paria.

Challenging the Government’s handling of the oil spill, which was reported to have occurred on May 1 but was only confirmed on May 10 after Venezuelan authorities broke the news, Aboud said the Government is keeping citizens in the dark about an environmental emergency.

He is now asking the Government to come clean on the exact location of the spill, the cause and who is footing the bill for its clean-up.

In a release yesterday, the FFOS stated, “It is troubling that a sovereign nation is told about an oil spill…in its own waters…from another country. Transparency should never be forced through international embarrassment. On May 9th, we became aware of another oil spill in our Gulf of Paria, not because our Ministry of Energy informed us, not because Heritage Petroleum alerted fishermen, mariners, coastal communities, or the public, but after the Venezuelan government publicly raised an alarm about environmental damage affecting its people.

“Venezuela informed the world before T&T informed its own patriots. This is not right. Then, on May 10th, our Ministry of Energy revealed that the spill had actually occurred on May 1st and had supposedly already been “successfully managed.”

It added, “Why were our people kept in darkness for nine days? Who made the decision to keep this natural disaster covered up? Why was the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan not publicly activated?”

Speaking to Guardian Media via telephone yesterday, Aboud said, “It’s unconscionable, especially coming from the Government, any government, that you should smother and hide and pretend and play games with grassroots people.”

According to him, Energy and Energy Industries Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal may not have been the one to hide the oil spill details from the public, but it may have been someone within his ministry. And that person, according to Aboud, should be held accountable.

He added, “How can you hide the discharge of a cancer-causing substance, which is destroying fishermen’s nets and livelihoods? How can you just hide that and walk free?”

Though the Government confirmed the oil spill was “successfully managed,” the FFOS complained that “oil does not magically disappear” but instead “settles into mangroves. It contaminates breeding grounds. It enters the food chain. It poisons ecosystems quietly and slowly. Every single drop of hydrocarbon has an everlasting impact.”

The FFOS is now calling for the immediate full disclosure of all the reports related to this incident.