Farley awaits word from Govt on CAF oil spill donation

Days after the CAF Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean donated US$250,000 to the Tobago oil spill clean-up drive, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said yesterday he was made aware of the donation via an online release.

Responding to a question on the intended use of the funds yesterday, he clarified that no one from the Central Government had discussed with him how they plan to use the money.

“I cannot say for certain how the Ministry of Finance will use the $250,000. I know that conversation has not been had with me, at least certainly not as yet,” Augustine said during a media conference at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex in Scarborough, where he gave an update on the oil spill clean-up process.

In a release on March 5, CAF said the donation specifically aims to ease the damage to beaches, reefs, and the local tourism industry caused by the spill.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, CAF executive president Sergio Díaz-Granados said he stands and supports the country at this time.

“CAF stands in solidarity with Trinidad and Tobago and offers all its technical and financial tools to support the government in facing the effects of the oil spill on the country’s coasts and achieving a prompt solution to the problem,” Díaz-Granados said.

In response, then acting Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Colm Imbert thanked CAF for its unwavering support.

Meanwhile, Augustine said Tobago continues to operate at a tier three level as work to contain the spill and salvage the overturned Gulfstream barge continues.

Augustine said this is because the island continues to work with international partners to control the disaster.

International companies T&T Salvage LLC, Kaizen, Oil Spill Response Ltd (OSRL) and Brazilian-based Petrobras are still in Tobago assisting with the disaster.

Augustine said there are currently agencies assisting, including the Ministry of Energy and the Heritage Department.

He said the weather pattern is now a concern for the clean-up and containment teams.

“It will mean that the material that is now stuck on the riverbed will more than likely wash outward and pollute, once again, the beaches that we had cleaned. But we continue to monitor that.”

The Lambeau coastline area continues to be a challenge, he admitted. Augustine said the team is working on a strategy to extract the bunker fuel trapped inside the cove areas along that shoreline.

Earlier this week, volumes of oil, on rocks and coves in Scarborough, washed into the sea and recollected on the shoreline. However, there is a plan by the Tobago Emergency Management Agency to use sea water and a citrus formula to remove and contain fuel stuck on rocks before it washes back into the sea.

Simultaneously, the THA is looking at some options to managing the waste.

“There are three areas that we are looking at: incineration as one, bioremediation, thirdly, we are using a product instead or burning or throwing it away.

“We have NGC doing some sampling of the product that we have stored at Studley Park. That testing is to ensure we have the best approach to treat with the waste. We don’t want to incinerate and release toxins into the air.”

He said Environmental Management Agency also continues daily testing of the air quality in Scarborough and other areas affected by the spill.