RP needs ‘urgent help’ to contain Guimaras oil spill
DoH issues health advisory restricting water use
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press
Last updated 03:50pm (Mla time) 08/16/2006
(UPDATE) THE Philippines Wednesday appealed for help to combat an oil spill in the waters off the island province of Guimaras in Western Visayas, which has polluted a major marine reserve and threatened the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen.
And although the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commander Arthur Gosingan would not go so far as to call the spill the worst in the country’s history, he said that, so long as the sunken MT Solar I remained underwater, the millions of liters of oil that threaten to leak from it could make that a reality.
The Department of Health (DoH) and the Guimaras provincial government issued a health advisory to residents.
The advisory prohibits swimming along contaminated areas or in bodies of water affected by the spill.
It also restricts residents from getting water for drinking, cooking, and other household purposes in the area and warned that fish and shellfish caught or harvested within affected waters should not be eaten or sold.