Siphoning of bunker oil to start November
Residents of Guimaras towns worst hit by the oil spill will continue to suffer as the foreign group tasked to siphon the remaining bunker fuel in the compartments of the sunken M/T Solar 1 off Guimaras waters is expected to arrive in November.
Gov. Rahman Nava said the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF) through their representatives had expressed their plans to commission a foreign group to siphon the remaining bunker fuel during the recent National Disaster Coordinating Council in Manila.
Nava said it will take more than six weeks for them to mobilize the experts, personnel and equipment to siphon the remaining industrial fuel oil in the sunken vessel's compartments. He did not specify on what foreign group will undertake the move to siphon the remaining bunker fuel which continues to pose a threat to the people and the environment.
While the vessel is still under the sea, Nava said they will continue to make oil spill booms to prepare for any eventuality. He said they have to initiate mitigating measures especially in areas still threatened by the oil spill while nothing is done about the sunken vessel.
Meanwhile, Nava said Petron had started to ship out the collected bunker fuel collected by oil spill workers in the different barangays in Nueva Valencia.
The collected oil debris were loaded in the Land Craft Transport Carmen of the Asian Shipping Company hired by Petron. The barge has a capacity to load up to 2,200 metric tons but only 500 tons were shipped out to Lugait, Misamis Oriental.