Guimaras under state of calamity due to oil spill

The provincial board of Guimaras put the province under a state of calamity Tuesday after an oil spill from a sunken tanker threatened the province’s ecosystem. News reports said the spill had spread as far as Iloilo and Negros Occidental. At least 16 of 22 villages in Guimaras were already affected by the spill, radio reports said. Guimaras officials warned that the oil spill from M/T Solar 1 could harm the aquatic resources of the island. It could also affect tourism and the economic activity of residents. Vice Admiral Arthur Gosingan, Philippine Coast Guard chief, said his office has been investigating reports that more villages were already affected by the spill. The Coast Guard has already sent two vessels to Guimaras for the clean-up operation. At least two million liters of bunker oil from M/T Solar 1, owned by Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation, are feared to have leaked out. The tanker sank Friday, killing two crewmembers. The ill-fated tanker was contracted by Petron Corp. to transport bunker oil from Limay town in Bataan to Zamboanga del Sur when the mishap happened. The oil spill was believed to have spread 19.5 nautical miles from Guimaras. “The worse scenario is that it would take us two to three years to finish the clean-up operations," Gosingan said. Guimaras is the smallest province of Western Visayas. It occupies three percent of the region’s total land area. The island has 8,000 hectares of mango orchards and produces the best variety of mango in the country. It is also known for its unspoiled beaches. - GMANews.TV