KARACHI, Oct 4: A number of speakers and participants at a seminar on Tasman Spirit disaster criticized the government and its different agencies for their failure to deal effectively with the situation.

While maintaining that the grounding and breaking up of the ship into portions and spillage of about 30,000 tonnes of crude oil from it surely have short and long term impact on environment, they said that not only the Karachi Port Trust failed to handle the old vessel properly, but there were also some other offices which could be held responsible for the hazardous aftermath of the spillage.

The speakers demanded immediate finalization of the preliminary enquiry, which, as per government quarters, was being conducted under Pakistan Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 2001. It was further observed that government’s response to the oil spill disaster was still disorganized.

Many of the experts and their audiences were witnessed sensitive to the disaster and heavily criticized the representatives speaking on behalf of KPT, Sindh Environmental Protection Agency and Maritime Security Agency.

A section of participants carried away by their emotions and apprehensions regarding the tragic spill did not allow government representatives to speak on their respective topics. They repeatedly interrupted the speakers during their sanctioned presentation time, as they wanted them to answer their question first.

Due to heightened sentiments of the concerned citizens and an unscheduled screening of a tele-documentary, the organizers even could neither conduct the scheduled panel discussion, nor any concluding statement could be issued.

An expert from University of Alaska, Richard G Steiner supported the suggestions made by some of the speakers regarding setting up a coastal management commission, scientific use of dispersants, avoiding political expediency in handling the disaster, true assessment of damage caused by the incident and putting pressure on ship owners to operate their ships at high standards.

The visiting scientists also stressed the need for making fresh risk assessment at three ports of the country, ie Karachi Port, Port Qasim and Gawadar Port, besides upgrading the facilities there. He agreed that there was also need to review the vessel traffic management at the Karachi Port.

The seminar on “Tasman Spirit Catastrophe, need for disaster management planning,” was organized by Shehri, an NGO claiming to be working for better environment, in collaboration with the Germany-based NGO, Friedrich Naumaan Foundation. Referring to the interruptions by audience, a representative of Shehri said that such situation could hardly be resisted, particularly when people were directly affected.

Speaking at the first session of the seminar, the director of ECO Coastal System, IUCN, Tahir Qureshi, said that the spill had been termed one of the worst events in terms of environmental damage. Oil started leaking out from the ship on very first day, while on the other hand response of the salvage personnel concerned was very poor, who mostly worked to protect the port area and allowed oil to drift towards the sea side, he added.

He said that marine environment had been polluted badly and about 500 fishermen families had been affected due to the damage to fisheries. Mature stand of mangroves in China creeks and PNS Himalya had been affected, while millions of seedlings produced at the west coast of Karachi were also covered with oil, he added.

Barrister M Naimur Rehman mentioned that entry of Tasman Spirit in the port channel was effected at wrong time, while lighterage operation was also initiated late, despite the fact that the KPT had got barges, ships and other facilities at its disposal.

Talking about the impact of spill on the life and earnings of fishermen living along the oil-affected coast, he said that they were likely to suffer enormously for years due to negligence of the KPT, ship owners and government agencies. The affected fishermen were well in position to file civil suits against the agencies responsible for the losses, he added.

The deputy director of the SEPA, Mr Shahid Lutfi said that despite the limited available facilities and legal provisions, it acted properly and took different decisions, including that about the timely use of dispersant.

Director Pollution, Maritime Security Agency, Lt Commander Asif Riaz, said that besides other duties, the MSA was also responsible for checking marine pollution in an area of 240,000 sq km. He said that under the available legal provisions and charter, the MSA was to act under the KPT command, only when a ship got into trouble within the port water.

He said that the role of the MSA in the absence of national oil contingency plan, which was lying pending with the government for finalization and implementation, was limited. The plan would enable the MSA to coordinate with different government agencies in the event of emergency, irrespective of its defined jurisdiction.

In his presentation and interaction with the audience, the manager, Marine Pollution Control department of the KPT, Rashid Yahya Usmani, said that there were misconceptions about the KPT’s role in the Tasman Spirit case. Claims and apprehensions were mostly based on misinformation, he said, adding that the KPT utilized all its expertise and available equipment to meet the situation, saying that the KPT was not adequately equipped to tackle the major oil spill like that of the Tasman Spirit.

About the controversy over ship’s age and report of some alleged irregularities in allowing it in the channel, he said that the ship came with all valid statutory certificates.