A fuel vessel that was filling up at a gas station in Bartica tilted, spilling some diesel into the Essequibo River late yesterday afternoon.
Reports out of the Region Seven community state that the vessel, owned by a Brazilian, was tied to the wharf and had just finished taking on fuel at the Double Platinum Service Station when it tilted to one side.
The vessel, which has two cylinders capable of holding 20 drums of fuel each, had four outlets and some of the fuel spilled out. It was not clear how much of the fuel had spilled out but the remainder was immediately pumped out.
Sources in the community said that a clean-up was attempted but some of the spilled fuel had begun to move up river.
Any report on the response by the Coast Guard stationed at Bartica?
But then again the Marine authorities (civil and military) here are so undermanned, untrained and under equipped (’Non-equipped’ is more accurate) that environmental pollution of Guyana’s coastal and inland waters by “don’t-care-a-damn” miners or “nothing to fear” Shipowners and their crew will continue well into the the 22nd century.
Hey, Environmental Pollution of the ‘Land of Many Waters’ is a Tradition, as such the funds and relevant legislation to rectify the situation is not on the parliamentary front burner, they have more important things to do like listen to our cell calls.
THE ESSEQUIBO, MAZARUNI AND CUYUNI RIVERS ARE POLLUTED ANYWAY..BECAUSE OF THE MINING ACTIVITIES THAT ARE GOING ON IN THE AREA…FUEL SPILLAGE IS NOT SOMETHING NEW…ITS GOOD THAT IT HAPPENS AT BARTICA AND NOT FURTHER IN…..THE SWIFT TIDAL FLOW OF THE CURRENT WILL TAKE CARE OF THAT…..THE ONLY SAD THING IS THAT SOME MARINE LIFE WILL SUFFER………….MR.FATVIC, DONT ACCUSE THE AUTHORITIES AS UNTRAINED AND UNDER EQUIPPED…….IF YOU ARE LIVING IN OR AROUND THE AREA, GO AND GIVE THEM SOME ADVISE OR VOLUNTARY ASSISTANCE IF YOU CAN.