Help pours on oil spill stricken Guimaras
While efforts to remove the sunken oil tanker Solar I from the seabed off Nueva Valencia, Guimaras or siphon the remaining bunker fuel from its compartments are underway, various organizations--both private and public--have initiated moves at gathering resources to help the Guimaras folks who are badly hit by the oil spill disaster.
Sounding the alarm first were media organizations which, after reports of oil slick have reached the shorelines of several Nueva Valencia barangays, immediately called for help to prevent the spilt bunker oil from spreading further.
Bombo Radyo asked for donations of indigenous materials like rice straw, jute sacks, bamboo poles etc. to be used in making improvised oil booms to be installed in shorelines not yet reached by the oil spill.
Same call were later made by other media organizations, ABS-CBN Iloilo, GMA TV-6, Aksyon Radyo and The News Today which launched separate relief operations calling for donations of rice, noodles, and canned goods intended for Guimaras fisherfolks who are currently suffering after losing their livelihood and for volunteers helping in the clean up operations.
Civic organizations like Rotary Club and Lions Club also raised donations for Guimaras.
The provincial government of Guimaras currently provides for the day-to-day food of residents affected by the oil spill.
Based on one study, a family of six normally needs three kilos of rice, four packs of noodles and four cans of sardines a day.
Various schools and rescue groups, on the other hand, send manpower to help in the clean up operations being spearheaded by the Philippine Coast Guard.
Also, non-government organizations formed a multi-sectoral alliance called Save Our Seas Movement to help in the clean up operations.
The Iloilo City government through the City Council allocated P206,250 from the city's calamity fund to be used for the purchase of rice from the National Food Authority.
While, Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas allocated P200,000 as financial assistance to the province of Guimaras.
The Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) chaired by Police Regional Office 6 regional director Chief Supt. Geary Barias, on the other hand, created Task Force 8-11 to monitor the extent of damage brought by the oil spill in various areas in Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
The Department of Health, for its part, has deployed personnel in Guimaras to monitor the incidence of oil spill-related diseases. To date, hospital personnel treated more than 200 residents suffering from cough, dizziness, diarrhea, contact dermatitis, and asthma following the oil spill.
One person was already reported to have died of a respiratory illness due to the fumes coming from the oil sludge stuck ashore.
RDCC reported that the debris collected totaled to 2,339 sacks, 63 drums of chemical dispersants used, and the teams have completed clean up operations along San Antonio, Lucmayan and Igdarapdap.
Department of Social Welfare and Development, meanwhile, has been providing technical assistance to Petron Foundation in coming up with a "cash for work" program in line with the clean up operations, in 11 barangays in Nueva Valencia.
As of date, 25 barangays are affected, 3,715 families affected with 16,785 persons affected. Extent of damage to coral reefs is about 15.8 square kilometers, mangroves, 314 and seaweeds, 58.
With the help of the Canadian Urban Institute and the Canadian International Development Agency, the Guimaras provincial government officially 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.
Project Sunrise also calls for relief assistance for thousands of families dependent on fishing who lost their livelihood.