Raps seen over slow spill cleanup

A MEMBER of the Coast Guard helps remove oil from coastal areas of Estancia, Iloilo, as criticisms are hurled against the private contractor hired to do the cleanup for its supposedly slow pace of work. GUIJO DUENAS/INQUIRER VISAYAS

ESTANCIA, ILOILO—The visibly irked governor of Iloilo province raised the possibility of suing a power supply company and a private contractor over what he said is the unreasonable delay in the cleanup of an oil spill here that was caused by a power barge slamming into a populated area at the height of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“We cannot wait that long,” said Gov. Arthur Defensor. “The province of Iloilo and the municipality of Estancia will file charges against you,” he said.

The governor’s anger was directed at the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) and Kuan Yu Global Technologies Inc. (Kuan). Psalm, which now manages dozens of power plants and generators once owned by the National Power Corp., has contracted Kuan to do the cleanup in this town.

A United Nations expert had estimated the amount of oil that spilled from the power barge, which can carry more than 1 million liters of bunker fuel, to be at least 600,000 liters.

Elmer Cadano, Psalm acting vice president, got the tongue lashing from Defensor at a public forum on the oil spill here. Cadano had told Defensor at the forum that the removal of bulk of the oil could go beyond the Dec. 6 target, upsetting the governor.

In the same forum, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said a new contractor might be needed to speed up oil recovery since there are signs that Kuan could not meet the deadline set by authorities.

Psalm had contracted Kuan for P87 million for the cleanup but is now under fire for its perceived slowness and amid questions raised about its capacity to finish the job.

Commodore Athelo Ybañez, Coast Guard commander in Western Visayas, said Kuan has not started siphoning off the remaining bunker fuel in the barge almost two weeks after it got the contract on Nov. 20.

Ybañez said Kuan’s equipment has not been used for the cleanup and what are being used are pieces of equipment of the Coast Guard.

Karl Ignatius Young, Kuan president, said his company has been able to bring in a tanker and two cargo vessels for use in the cleanup.

He admitted that full work on the cleanup has not started because company workers are still connecting special hoses that would collect oil from the water and store these in the cargo vessels.

He said one of the cargo vessels that the company brought in is not designed to store and transport fuel and the company had to acquire a permit from the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) for this vessel to be part of the cleanup project.

“We appeal for understanding. We are doing our best,” Young said.

Bunker fuel that leaked from the barge had contaminated the town’s coastline and forced the evacuation of at least 2,000 residents, who are also victims of Yolanda.

Winds of up to 300 kph and waves stirred by the storm surge picked the barge up from where it is moored, near a rocky coastline, and slammed it into populated areas.

Residents took shelter in classrooms and tents at Northern Iloilo Polytechnic College-West Campus on Nov. 23.

A check with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that Kuan was formerly registered as Maxx Ionized Alkaline Water Inc. engaged in “collection, purification and distribution of water.”

In its amended articles of incorporation approved on April 16, 2012, the company included in its business oil spill management, marine pollution management and oil spill cleanup.

It declared that its primary purpose is wholesale trading, electronics, heavy and industrial equipment and other businesses.

Its authorized capital is P1 million while the paid up capital is P62,500, according to SEC records.

But Young said his company is capable and has the experience to do the cleanup.

He said he was with the First Response Marine Services Inc. (FRMSI) that was contracted to cleanup the oil spill in Semirara Island in Antique in 2006.

FRMSI folded up “so I incorporated it with my company (Kuan),” said Young.