The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) on Wednesday received four containers’ worth of oil spill resources, which will be used for training of personnel in key agencies, to equip them for any possible adverse effects in the oil sector.
The resources, which are a Government of Guyana donation, were handed over by the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Energy, to Warrant Officer Carlton Semple, at the CDC’s Alternate Emergency Operations Centre at Timehri.
According to a release from the ministry, Petroleum Geologist in the Department of Energy, Marissa Foster, indicated that the purchase was made primarily for training purposes, to boost the capacity of key stakeholder agencies.
“[The CDC] as the agency responsible for oil spill response and preparedness, it will assist them in building capacity among the agencies who are tasked with responding, like the fire service and the Coast Guard, the EPA so [the resources] will be beneficial for training exercises and in the event that we may need to respond to small spills… in the future,” Foster stated.
Director General of the CDC, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, related that the Commission will soon go about distributing the resources, according to the needs of the respective agencies.
“It is our intention to take these and hand it over to the necessary agencies tasked with oil spill response. We are also trying to procure other materials and very soon, the CDC would be meeting with key agencies to see what are some of the resources that they require because we are not just buying materials; we are buying what is most needed,” the Colonel stated.
The CDC is the lead agency tasked with creating a National Oil Spill Response Contingency Plan. The release noted that the CDC is mandated to prepare public and private stakeholders with a detailed understanding of the plan, and acquaint them with the policies and procedures to be implemented as part of a national oil spill response.
