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Special Assignment5th July 1998 |
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When the sea turned black
Sri Lanka's first major oil spill-where seventy two tons of Iranian crude oil leaked into the sea area from Bambalapitiya possibly to Lunawa- could turn into a catastrophe for marine life if urgent steps are not taken, environmentalists warned. The worst hit areas were the shores off Bambalapitiya and its environs. "The spill has destroyed marine organisms from which the fish feed.The beaches also have been polluted," Environmental Foundation Chief Lalanath de Silva said. He told The Sunday Times emergency back-up should have been available and the lack of it had caused severe environmental damage. "It was an accident and one ought to accept it," was how Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Chairman Anil Obeysekera, described it. He said, " thirty foot/ 24 inch diameter hoses were fitted to tanker vessels from a Single Point Mooring bouy stationed at mid sea .The crude oil is then pumped to the buoy, and from there to the port by under water pipelines." The spill occurred as one of the thirty foot hoses fractured due to rough sea conditions. He said usually if the seas were rough oil discharge operations are not done. "But this time, we were forced to do so, as we were running short of oil in our storage. Only one out of four storage tanks each having a capacity of upto 40,000 tons, was functional," he said. "When an incident of this nature happens, we need to use helicopters to spray oil dispersant," Mr. Obyesekara said admitting Sri Lanka was not able to afford such an expensive operation.. But environmentalists are angry and said the CPC should be taken to court for negligence. "Marine Pollution Prevention Act of 1983 clearly states that polluting the marine environment is a criminal as well as a civil offence for which CPC should be taken to courts,"Mr. de Silva said. Marine Pollution and Prevention Authority Chairman Dhanapala Weerasekera told The Sunday Times, his main concern was over a report that the oil spill might have spread as far as the Lunawa coast. "Just as much as it spreads toward the coast, it may have dispersed toward the deep seas," he said. Mr. Weerasekara said the food chain of the aqua life had been badly affected, whether or not people consumed fish from the affected area. "It may take well over two weeks for us to fully asses the damage," though quoting a possible figure of around Rs. 6 million. Other coastal residence, tourists and environmentalists also expressed outrage and concern. ( See story on this page) Central Environmental Authority Director General, L.H.Jayasinghe said they were closely monitoring the situation. The Greek vessel , which arrived on June 26 started discharging the oil on June 29 when there was no sign of the weather improving. Mr. Obeysekera said high waves battering against the hoses had caused extra stress and fatigue resulting in a fracture. Nearly 72 tons of crude oil leaked out of the hose travelling in a northwesterly direction from the vessel towards Bambalapitiya. He said oil discharging was done once every fortnight and that it was difficult for divers to keep a constant check on the hoses. It is learnt that the lifetime of a hose is 10-15 years, and that the ones used by the CPC were more than 10 years old. Mr. Obeysekera conceding they were not properly equipped to bring the situation under control said, that CPC got the assistance of Master Divers to spray chemicals from a tug boat. But most other operations were done manually, meaning a slow process. However CPC workers sprayed a highly concentrated biodegradable chemical from the beach. "We do not have the facility to go out into the sea. What we spray from the beach will be washed away into the sea with the waves," said a CPC official who did not wished to be named. By Thursday nearly 4000 litres of concentrated oil dispersants were sprayed. But Wednesday's black waters turned gold on Thursday and brown on Friday. Dwellers along the beach have completely abandoned sea missions, and fear to tread the beaches. A Ports Authority official said crude oil could not be easily removed. "It takes years to clean up the mess if proper action is not taken immediately to artificially remove it. This is much more serious than people realize. Something needs to be done fast or it will end up in catastrophe," he warned. The CPC chairman was however optimistic. He said the chemicals would react with the crude oil, and bring it down to the sea bed in a few days time. Also the chemical reaction would be harmless to aqua life, ultimately leading the oil substance to degrade, on the sea bed, he claimed.
He quenched their thirst, they vent their angerBy Chris Kamalendran and S.S. Selvanayagam
It was 6.30 p.m. last Tuesday when bearded Douglas Devananda, the EPDP leader, walked through the crowded wards of Kalutara's Jawatte Prison, handing down glass after glass of glucose and water to some 50 terrorist suspects. That signalled the end of a week long protest fast. The young men had been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, without indictment in Courts for over two years. They were demanding their release or Court action without delay. The militant turned moderate was playing the role of a messiah or so it seemed as the detenus heaved a sigh of relief when the glucose water went down their parched throats. But the next ten minutes saw not only mayhem in Sri Lanka's largest Remand Prison but also near death for him.
Was it a call to make peace or a veritable invitation to murder that caught up Douglas Devananda, a man who has dodged bullets as a guerrilla and had many a tryst with death as a politician. Both times he had escaped virtually unscathed from his enemies. But his foray to make peace has left him with multiple head injuries and a fight to survive. A top level investigation directed by Mr. Punya de Silva, DIG (CID), which is now under way, will soon reveal all the answers. A team of more than 20 detectives have been deployed in the task. Tuesday's drama began after Mr. Devananda accompanied Ms Maheswary Velautham, Secretary of the Forum for Human Dignity, a local NGO, visited to Kalutara last Tuesday. Accompanying them was driver Kethes and personal bodyguard Rasanayagam. Ms Velautham, The Sunday Times learnt, had been told by those responsible for the fast that they were willing to call it off if an acceptable Tamil leader would visit them. "Our humanitarian mission was to seek an end to the hunger strike," Ms Velautham told The Sunday Times. He said she had been involved in human rights activities for the past two years but declined to say from where her organisation received its funding. Since the protest fast was directed at the State, the subject was being handled by State Counsel, S.K. Ganlath. He had spoken to Mr. Devananda too about the trouble brewing at the Jawatte Remand Prison. When the EPDP leader and the human rights lawyer arrived, Mr. Ganlath was also at the Prison. Ms Velautham took over the story. She said "together with Chief Jailor, R.A.A. Fernando, Mr Devananda and I went around the wards. The inmates called off their fast by drinking glucose water given in a glass by Mr. Devananda. The visit first took us to wards C, D and E. Thereafter, Mr. Devananda wanted to visit Ward B where there were over 200 detenus, all remanded on Detention Orders made under the Prevention Terrorism Act. This is where hell broke loose. "All of a sudden, the inmates surrounded Mr. Devananda. Some of them began to lynch him. I saw him being stabbed on the head with pointed iron spikes. When I rushed to ward them off, I was pushed down. I shouted for help. There were two prison guards watching what was going on. They offered no help. "I got up a while later to see Mr. Devananda lying in a pool of blood. His files were strewn around the place. Just then two prison officials rushed to the scene and opened fire into the air. The inmates dispersed. He was rushed to the Nagoda base hospital and later transferred to the National Hospital." Chief Jailor, R.A.A. Fernando, who accompanied both Mr. Devananda and Ms Velautham told The Sunday Times that about 20 inmates were responsible for the attack on Mr. Devananda. He said "They attempted to even throttle me. I got out of their grip and tried again to help. But sensing a dangerous situation, I rushed to the gate and called for help from two armed guards. Although I appealed to the attackers to disperse, they went on mercilessly.Mr. Fernando said it was at the B ward that hard core suspects were detained. "We examined all detenus after the incident. We found three of them had gunshot injuries. They were the result of the guards opening fire. Three LTTE suspects who were on detention under the PTA have been identified as among those involved in the attack. He said the Police found three iron rods, a few stones smeared with blood, a sarong, a shirt and a pair of shoes. "With the help of the Police, we were forced to break open the door of Ward B where 248 suspects had locked themselves up," Mr. Fernando said. Meanwhile National Hospital Deputy Director of the Accident Service ,Hector Weerasinghe told 'The Sunday Times' the Mr. Devananda's condition was showing some improvement. "He opened his eyes and also moved his limbs." Dr. Weerasinghe said. "He was heard muttering 'Thanni', 'Thanni' (water, water)'," the doctor said.
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Oil
soaked sea weed,fish and litter washed ashore at Wellawatte beach
Devananda
being rushed to hospital
For
the past five days Mr Devananda is lying in a critical condition at the
National Hospital where a team of doctors are fighting to save his life.
"Though he made a marginal recovery, his condition is still being
treated as critical," Dr. Hector Weerasinghe, Deputy Director of the
Accident Service said. 