KARACHI, Sept 5: The Coordination Committee has censured Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) for not responding to and participating in the forum constituted by President Musharraf to tackle the oil spillage from broken oil tanker Tasman Spirit.

This was observed at Committee’s meeting, chaired by Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Mutawakil Kazi on Friday, held at the Committee Room of the Sindh Secretariat.

The meeting deplored non-provision of sufficient equipment and supplies by the agent of oil tanker’s owner and insurance company.

The meeting also took serious notice that the owner of the ship had not even visited the country, where the disaster occurred.

Reacting to absence of some of the members at the Coordination Committee meeting, the chief secretary said that the original members must attend the meeting so that the decisions taken there should be implemented in letter and spirit.

The enquiry, being conducted by the Communication Ministry should be shared with the Committee, the meeting decided.

The certification regarding complete lighterage of the ship had yet not been granted, the meeting observed and decided that the monitoring in this regard would continue till the completion of the operation.

The committee also discussed the oil spills which took place elsewhere in the world, to learn from the experiences.

Reviewing the beach-cleaning operation, the meeting was told that it was an ongoing process and multi-dimensional in nature, therefore it might continue for several months.

The Committee also decided that a plan should be prepared in the light of this oil spillage tragedy to combat such type of incidents in future.

The Committee emphasised the need to assess the extent of damage done to the mangrove forests, marine life, environment, health and beach, caused due to oil spillage.—PPI