(Port-of-Spain) The oil spill affecting Trinidad and Tobago after the sinking of an unidentified ship is still “not under control”, warned Sunday the head of government of this Caribbean archipelago whose start of the carnival tourist season is weighed down by the disaster.
“Cleaning and rehabilitation can only begin when the situation is under control. For the moment, it is not,” Prime Minister Keith Rowley declared during a press briefing, officially declaring a state of emergency.
Divers failed to plug the leaking ship, which is about 100 meters long, and the Tobago Disaster Management Agency (TEMA) reported there were no signs of life on the mysterious vessel. “Gulfstream” responsible for the oil spill.
Around 15 km of coastline are contaminated on Tobago, one of the two islands of this Caribbean oil country of 1.4 million inhabitants, close to Venezuela.
Since Thursday, hundreds of volunteers have been working to try to contain the progression of the thick oil stain, but that is not enough. In addition to affecting the local ecosystem, the oil spill also threatens vital tourism revenue.
Trinidad and Tobago is preparing to welcome thousands of tourists for the carnival season. However, many tourist complexes and hotels in Tobago, such as the Magdalena Grand, are affected.
The government therefore appealed for more people to join the volunteers. Authorities also asked tourists not to approach contaminated areas.
PHOTO HANDOUT, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Workers from the Tobago Disaster Management Agency are working to clean up the oil spill.
Barriers were deployed for approximately 15 kilometers to allow boats to arrive at the port of Scarborough, the capital of Tobago.
The boat that caused the disaster, the “Gulfstream”, remains an enigma, with no identified flag or emergency calls sent by the crew on the day of the sinking.
“We were unable to identify the ship by name […] nor by its registration number,” Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Farley Augustine, told reporters.
“We don’t know who owns this boat. We have no idea where it came from, any more than we know what it contains,” insisted Mr. Rowley, without excluding that the boat could have been used for trafficking.
“We do not know if it is a cargo ship, an oil tanker or a barge, because only the keel is visible and its physical elements allowing it to be identified are underwater, in an inaccessible place for the moment,” he said. added Mr. Rowley.
Initially, it was supposed to transport sand and wood. The boat, which capsized off the Cove eco-industrial park in southern Tobago, was swept ashore by currents.