By Sue-Ann Wayow
SOME 57 residents affected by an oil spill caused by ageing infrastructure in Tarouba have been relocated to Royal Hotel, San Fernando.
The oil spill occurred along the Solomon Hochoy Highway from the Marabella River into New City Avenue.
According to Minister of Energy Dr Roodal Moonilal, the incident involved a leak on the 12” and 16” trunk oil pipelines, resulting in contamination of surrounding soil, vegetation, and drainage channels.
Cleanup crews and emergency teams were promptly mobilised to contain and remediate the spill, with pumping operations suspended as a precaution.
On Saturday, Dr Moonilal along with Minister in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries Ernesto Kesar, Member of Parliament for Claxton Bay Hansen Narinesingh and councillor for Marabella West John Alibocus visited the site.
Following his site inspection, Dr Moonilal met with affected residents who were relocated to the Royal Hotel for their safety and comfort.
“The residents were in high spirits and expressed gratitude for the swift response and the immediate medical assistance provided to those in need. Children were seen enjoying the hotel’s pool, and one resident shared that, for the first time, they felt treated with dignity,” Dr Moonilal posted on his Facebook page.
He further told AZP News, he expects the residents may have to stay till maybe Monday or Tuesday.
He thanked the Heritage Petroleum team for their speedy response in containing the incident and assured that the situation will continue to be closely monitored, with regular updates provided to the public.
Dr Moonilal told AZP News on Saturday evening, “We are extremely pleased that this matter has been dealt with, in a manner that is extremely expeditious…We are extremely happy there has been no grave illnesses or health problems emanating from this leak. It was contained. Notwithstanding the weather, we were able to stay on top of the problem. We expect by Monday or so, the matter would be dealt with.”
He said over the last ten years, very little was done to deal with matters such as aging infrastructure and asset integrity.
Kesar will be working with Heritage Petroleum personnel to continuously monitor the situation, doctors continue to visit the residents at the hotel and in the community, emergency personnel were on standby.
Dr Moonilal said Member of Parliament for San Fernando West Dr Michael Dowlath and Narinesingh were on the ground all day visiting affected areas.
On Narinesingh’s Facebook page, he said he visited the area to show support to Dr Dowlath as a neighbouring constituency.
He said he will remain in close contact as the issue progresses and will continue to support Dr Dowlath and assist however possible.
According to Dr Dowlath, he was alerted of the oil spill at 8 pm on Friday by local government councillor for Marabella South/Vistabella Sasha Ali regarding the presence of an oil-like substance observed in the Marabella River.
The residents also reported a strong, pungent odour consistent with that of crude oil, which caused concern for their immediate health and safety.
Immediate actions taken:
Upon receiving the reports, the following stakeholders were involved.
• Minister of Energy Dr Roodal Moonilal and Member of Parliament for Claxton Bay.
• Disaster Management Unit (DMU) of the San Fernando City Corporation (SFCC)
• Relevant City Councillors
• Emergency Management Division (EMD)
• Heritage Petroleum – as a precautionary measure, residents in the affected vicinity were evacuated and relocated to a designated safe zone for the duration of the night.
Emergency clean-up and community assistance are ongoing.
In a video posted by Dr Dowlath, he was told that the line was clasped and there was no more oil seeping in the waterway. Additionally, containment booms were placed at the edge of the river mouth so no oil would flow into the sea.
No one was injured but residents were seen by doctors and nurses.
