Those citizens of the city of Karachi (and they are many) who are worried about further massive degradation to our environment in the wake of the Tasman Spirit oil spill must hope that President General Pervez Musharraf did not do as a PPI report published on August 28 would have us believe:
"Following directives by President Pervez Musharraf, a high-level co-ordination committee has been formed which will meet daily to review the impacts of oil spill into the sea from Greek-registered [Why can no one get it into his head that the vessel is registered in Malta? Or does no one know the difference between Malta and Greece?] grounded oil tanker MT Tasman Spirit on environment and public health."
Surely Gen. Musharraf could not have issued a directive in respect of the high-level committee on his recent visit to Karachi, at "a high-level meeting" held at the Governor's House on the 25th, the purpose of which was: "to speed beach cleaning, lighterage, salvage operations and rehabilitation of the environment and affected people." (The term 'rehabilitation of the environment is reminiscent of the 'restoration of democracy', neither the environment nor democracy having ever been in a particularly healthy condition.)
The 'high level' committee is to be chaired by the chief secretary of Sindh, and the chairman of Karachi Port Trust has been appointed committee secretary. The members are the government of Sindh home, information, environment, fisheries and health secretaries, the IGP Sindh, director-general Rangers, COMKAR, administrator defence housing authority, district coordination officer, Brigade IS 5 corps, director-general maritime security agency, director-general ports & shipping, commander marine security agency, managing director Karachi fish harbour authority, and the director-general environment, Sindh. Is it possible that the president believes that these 18 men (no oil spill expert amongst them) can and will meet on a daily basis and, as the notification issued by the department of services, general administration and coordination of the GOS has it, 'the committee will provide a forum for all stakeholders to take necessary measures to overcome the losses and find ways and means for an early redress of the worsening situation and restoration of the environment, ecology and health conditions in the affected areas.' Will it?
The government of Sindh is in its own dysfunctional state, so it is unimaginable that any of its departments or agencies can be anything but likewise
The stakeholders obviously have to be assisted in filing their claims. And against whom are these claims to be filed? And where? It is understood that the relevant charter party signed by the charterers of the vessel, the Pakistan national shipping corporation, with the owners and/or operators of the Tasman Spirit covering this disastrous voyage, specifies that general average proceedings and arbitration (if any) will be held in London and will be governed by 'English law'. The other relevant clause reads:
"Oil pollution insurance clause: Owners Warrant that during the charter party the vessel is covered by their P&I club for oil pollution damages up to USD 1,000,000,000 (USD 1 billion) for all pollution risks, each accident or occurrence."
When oil is spilled and damage is done, most people in most places try to avoid or lessen whatever they are liable to pay. An excerpt from the August 22 issue of the maritime magazine 'Fairplay' states:
"Polembros, the owner of the grounded tanker Tasman Spirit, together with the American P&I Club will effectively be the sole source of compensation for all claims arising from the vessel's break up, legal sources say. Pakistan is currently not a member of any international compensation regime and in the absence of such international funds, the owner and P&I Club will be subject to national laws governing limits of liability. 'It is still very early to start talking about compensation.
As far as I understand, our P&I Club is spending more than they are obliged to. This is likely to continue,' Polembros's operations manager Nikos Karagiannis told Fairplay. In the absence of Civil Liability and International Oil Pollution Compensation funds conventions, both Polembros and the American Club have admitted to Fairplay that they are currently unsure about their exact legal positions. According to Joe Hughes, chief executive of the Shipowners Claims Bureau of the American Club, they are focusing on the immediate task of clean-up operations. 'We will then have to wait and see how the legal dimension pans out,' said Hughes."
The different stakeholders will, of course, read this differently.
As for our preparedness to meet all eventualities arising out of oil spills, I reproduce an email message received on August 21 from Dr Pervez Naim, an environmental impact specialist, who is a regional programme coordinator of the Regional Environment Assessment Programme in Kathmandu and a former director of the Pakistan chapter of the international union for the conservation of nature and natural resources (IUCN):
"Greetings from the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal!
"Your column on Tasman Spirit prompts me to share with you the following points regarding some 'official' efforts towards oil spill control. These points are based on my personal experience and observations as a member of the Technical Committee, Marine Pollution Control Board (MPCB) where I represented IUCN from 1994 to 1998.
"1) In 1994, the DG Ports & Shipping prepared a summary for the Ministry of Communications saying that since no oilspill has ever occurred in Pakistan waters therefore no such event is likely to occur in future.
"2) In December1994, Port Qasim acquired oilspill control equipment including booms and skimmers. All this equipment was kept locked in a warehouse, as no suitable vessel was available to mount these.
"3) The only Pakistani who got a master's degree in marine pollution control on IMO scholarship worked for PQA in the Environment Section. He prepared the first oilspill contingency plan for PQA. Soon after that the PQA management transferred him to another section.
"4) An oil spill/garbage cleanup demo was presented to Benazir Bhutto at KPT. The Singapore based company representative gave a running commentary as the giant vacuum cleaner type machine roared in an attempt to pick up floating garbage. BB dismissed his claim of the machine's efficiency and said, "I don't think it is working". The man said, "Yes it is working". BB gave up by saying, "maybe your eyes can see better than mine".
"5) As Chairman MPCB, Admiral Mansurul Haq brought in a commercial company to demonstrate a cleanup of the Karachi Fish Harbour. The crew came with bamboo poles fitted with wheat flour sifting sieves, and enthralled the select gathering with their futile attempts in scooping out the oil and garbage floating on water surface. The MPCB had real hard time justifying payment to that company.
"6) While Admiral Fasih was in the Chair, [CNS] Aditi Kiran spilled oil about 70 nautical miles off Pasni. I was on board the Naval aircraft along with the DG MSA, DG P&S and DG Sindh EPA that surveyed the oil spewing ship. My recommendation was that no action should be taken on the spilled oil. The oil had spread quite widely. The pre-monsoon winds were breaking up the slick and mixing of suspended particles was reducing oil buoyancy to the point of its submersion. The oil was already emulsified and therefore it was useless to spray any dispersant on it. This is exactly what was done and the spill did not cause any significant damage.
"7) This episode prompted Admiral Fasih to order a joint oil spill control drill by MSA, PQA and KPT. I drafted a routine for the drill. It was based on using a counted number of coloured plastic balls spilled at 2 open locations, estimating the rate and direction of the spill spread, then strategically laying the booms to capture most of the balls. I also gave a briefing to the teams but no one appeared interested in engaging in an exercise where one's efficiency could be measured. As a result the Admiral got treated to a demonstration as follows:
"On a calm December morning, boats took visitors to a site where oil booms were already in place. Within the confines of the booms, a small amount of oil was carefully 'spilled' and then picked up with a skimmer! We prepared well for oil spill control!"
Those who are rushing to the courts and filing meaningless, unsubstantiated claims would be better served were they to read what is posted on the Internet concerning the various oil spills, the ensuing compensation claims, the relevant arbitration or other legal proceedings, and the Tasman Spirit's grounding and consequent break-up at Karachi, and not be guided and advised by landlubbers.
As for our being ready to meet all eventualities, we may dwell on this aspect after the defence authorities have decided on the upper limits of the shortness of the shorts to be worn by men, walking or jogging in their parks.