(Trinidad Guardian) Following the revelations of a Sunday Guardian investigation into the Tobago oil spill and subsequent claims by the Opposition that the Government is failing to keep the public informed about its investigation, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young says the Government has to ensure accuracy and seek documented verification as it investigates.
He said contrary to claims made by the Opposition at its media conference yesterday, the Government has been pursuing the hard facts concerning ownership of the offending two vessels, as well as to whom the cargo of bunker fuel was destined or consigned.
“The Government has been pursuing, via the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, official communications with various countries whose preliminary information suggests they may have the necessary information related to this tragedy. This is also being overseen by the Maritime Division, Ministry of Works and Transport. The process of official verification and confirmation is ongoing. The Government has to ensure accuracy and documented verification,” Young said yesterday.
“In the meantime, as can be seen, the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries is focused on providing the necessary expertise to arrest the fuel leaking, its removal from the vessel, maritime containment and eventual salvage of the vessel.
“It is to be noted once again, that Trinidad and Tobago is not responsible for this incident, as the vessel or vessels were in no way whatsoever associated with Trinidad and Tobago.”
Young added that the UNC’s “weekly rant” lacked substance and was an attempt to seek relevance and distract from internal party issues.
Earlier in the day, Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal accused the Government of being clueless in pursuing and sharing the facts about the oil spill. He claimed the public had to depend on the newspapers, specifically the Sunday Guardian, to have critical questions about the incident answered.
“If the newspaper and investigative journalists can do this across the Trans-Atlantic Ocean, what is the Government doing? The Government cannot respond today to tell us who are the owners of that vessel called the Gulfstream barge. They cannot tell us conclusively where it originated from. Where is it going? What was it doing?” he asked.
“They have not produced a single report as to the owners of this vessel. Who is responsible? What steps are being taken to call those accountable to account? And certainly for the damages, to pay for the damages that we have incurred. Damages, I want to repeat the point, they are long-term because you are dealing with fisheries. You are dealing with livelihoods. You are dealing with jobs. You are dealing with the environment.”
Moonilal called for a full criminal forensic investigation to trace the digital footprints of the incident, which he described as an environmental act of terrorism and sanction busting.
“What is the Government doing now? What are they doing exactly? We must have an investigation, an account, that is multifaceted, multi-agency and cross-border to ensure that questions are answered.
“They said they are investigating, but the public doesn’t know what they are doing because they are not reporting. They are not telling us every week or every two weeks, as the case may be, what they are doing. There has been absolutely no report to the national community on what has been the outcome so far of their investigation, while we have in the newspapers today an outcome of their investigations…but the Government needs to tell us first what they are doing and if they have arrived at any preliminary conclusions based on the enormous resources at their disposal,” he said.