Government has been asked to hasten its action on a second inspection of the FSO Nabarima.
Gary Aboud, corporate secretary of the Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS)issued the call via a release to media.
He said following their first visit on October 20, where a team of local experts was sent by the government to visit and confirm the safety of the oil tanker which was listing at a 26 degree angle, a second visit was carded for November 20.
However this has not taken place.
Aboud said: “That team of experts claimed that everything was safe but that another visit would be made a month hence. Five days have passed, on November 20 we expected our government to have confirmed that a visit would have been made, but all they have said is that they are awaiting approval. We urge our government to fulfil its promise to confirm the safety of the vessel so that the public fear can be appeased and the world can sleep at peace.”
“Having publicly stated that the FSO Nabarima is stabilised, the Maduro regime should have no difficulty in allowing our team to verify the vessel’s updated status. Their failure to do same only suggests that they are keeping secrets from both the Trinidadian and Venezuelan public and risking an environmental catastrophe.”
FFOS urged government to act transparently to ensure that the public and TT’s natural environment are not threatened and hoodwinked by a regime whose environmental track record appears to be inimical to sound environmental management practice and the preservation of our Gulf of Paria .
Aboud said TT must urgently exhaust all avenues in arranging this second safety verification mission.
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