Guimaras sets up website to seek help
The provincial government of Guimaras has set up a website to seek international help over an oil spill now wrecking havoc on its seas.
Dubbed "Project Sunrise" with web address at www.projectsunrise.org, the website calls for organizations who have the capacity to dive and recover sunken vessels 600-700 meters underwater to help in immediately removing the tanker MT Solar I, which sank on 11 August south of the island.
It also calls relief assistance for the at least 4,000 displaced families displaced and the introduction of initiatives that will restore the livelihoods of people, most of whom depend on tourism and fishery which were badly hit by the disaster.
"All those who have so far responded to help us admit that they don't have the capability to remove the tanker below. As long as it stays there, all efforts to clean our shores will be meaningless, and more and more coastal communities will suffer from hunger, thirst and diseases as the area covered by the slick expands," says Guimaras Gov. JC Rahman Nava as he appeals for help.
Coastal villages affected by the spill are already experiencing food and water shortage following the crippling of their livelihood -- fishing. "No one is buying fish from Guimaras anymore and it would be useless for fishers to go out of the sea," says Jimmy Baban, action officer of Task Force Sunrise.
Nava created the task force to coordinate relief efforts as more and more families are feeling the brunt of the disaster. It is from the task force that Project Sunrise evolved.
The website was developed in partnership with the Canadian Urban Institute, with fund assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency.
Nava also says Guimaras needs projects to assist its people restore their livelihoods, especially for the rehabilitation of the environment, and called on international funding agencies now consider the island-province for their development initiatives.
A donation and pledge form can be downloaded from the website and faxed to the task force for its information. The provincial government of Guimaras is opening a bank account to receive cash donations. Its details will soon be posted at the website.
"We hope that those who want to help will coordinate with Project Sunrise to ensure that efforts are coordinated and relevant, and minimize wastage of precious resources," Nava adds.
Nava launched Project Sunrise to improve the relief work by bringing together the resources, information, human resources and technology to be used in the relief operations in a transparent and accountable manner.
"We have created this website to bring together compassionate and thoughtful citizens and organizations of the world and take common heroic responses to human sufferings caused by this disaster," he says.
Government agencies and aggrupations like the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council, charitable foundations and groups, politicians, corporations and private individuals must coordinate with the task force in responding to the disaster, according to Nava.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT +63 33 2371111 or visit www.projectsunrise.org