The Sunday Times News - Spillover of the oil spill

Although authorities have dived into the clean up operation, following the oil spill off the Habaraduwa coast, one week on, the oil is still washing ashore affecting both the fishing and tourism industries.

The Bangladeshi merchant Vessel, ‘Amanath Sha’ which sank off the coast of Habaraduwa was transporting a cargo of about 1300 logs of Rangoon teak. These logs along with the furnace oil onboard, washed ashore when the ship sank.

The oil which is still visible on the beach and on the surface of the water is affecting the corals and vegetation in the area. (See box story).

An apparent lack of co-ordination between the authorities involved in the cleaning up operation – the Timber Corporation, the Navy and aid agencies – also seems to be hampering its progress and more importantly re-polluting the shoreline.

Thick black polythene bags which have been used to collect the contaminated water and sand are still lying on the beach with little being done to dispose of them. Some of these bags have been there for three to four days and the oil is oozing out and falling back on the beach, from torn patches in the bags.

“We have been clearing the beach for the past five days and the oil is still getting washed up. We scoop the oil from the sand and put them in bags which are left here to be taken away,” said Navy Able Patrolman, H.G.M Kumara who was helping with the removal of the oil, a responsibility tasked on the Navy. He added it was not the responsibility of the Navy to dispose of these bags. M.S. Jayalal, a store keeper of the Timber Corporation who was on the site, told us they had started to clear the logs off the beach from the day the incident occurred and that they had collected about 600 logs and there were about 500 more to be collected.

“We are storing the logs at the Ahangama Police station and the police will hand it over to the Additional Government Agent. We will then claim it from him and get the stockpile of timber,” he said.

He also added that Rangoon teak was the most valuable wood in the world with a log being valued at about Rs.50,000 each.

He said the police had asked them to clear the logs out of the area as fast as possible as the timber breaks up the coral bed. But Mr. Jayalal said they faced transport problems as vehicles could not be brought onto the beach.

“We have hired residents and fishermen in the area to help us remove these logs from the beach. We pay them 50 rupees for each cubic foot they help carry,” he added.

He also said some villagers had taken some of the logs and hidden them as soon as they got washed ashore but police had recovered the stolen timber.

However, some of the fishermen said they were using the timber to repair their broken houses and also sell them and get some compensation for their lost livelihoods.

Habaraduwa police OIC Sujeewa de Silva said they had found about 15 to 20 logs that were hidden in the jungle area in the villages but no one had been arrested”.

Meanwhile Stilt fishermen complain that as a result of the oil spill the fish who feed on the algae of the coral no longer come close enough to the shore for them to catch. T.H. Jayasena one of the stilt fishermen said there are dead fish floating along the shore. He also said their stilts had been destroyed by the timber logs that had washed ashore and they could not afford to buy a new pair of steel pipes

“We can resume our fishing only once the oil is completely removed from the corals and vegetation. The fish will return once the oil is cleared. This incident is like a second tsunami for us,” he lamented.

They said that the police had asked them to assist in the clean-up operation while the Timber Corporation was paying them to help carry the timber logs away from the beach.

They also complained that although government authorities had promised that they would be compensated for the loss in fishing, through the sale of the logs, little had been done.

Assisting in the clean up operation in another area of the beach were 22 students from Dangedara Jayewardene Maha Vidyalaya. Shirani Weerakkody, a Grade 10 Science teacher who was supervising the students said the students from grade 9 to 11 were from the school’s Environmental Society and they had been there since nine in the morning.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy had assisted by way of helicopters that sprayed a dispersant (a liquid or gas added to a mixture that helps break up the oil slick in to smaller molecules thus enabling it to dissolve in the water) during the past two nights.

The oil spill was also affecting the hotel industry especially those along the Koggala beach. Assistant Manager of Koggala Beach Hotel, Pathmasiri Liyanage lamented that the hotel has lost about Rs.350,000 rupees due to cancellations.

“Eight rooms which were booked after the spill were immediately cancelled when the clients realized that they could not use the beach. Most of the tourists who were here before the spill remained as we have organized a shuttle service to the beaches of Thalpe and Unawatuna,” he said.

The oil spill which has now been termed the ‘second tsunami’ by the fishing community in the area, has once again affected the two industries—fishing and tourism--that were slowly picking up after the deadly tsunami of 2004.