THE Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Energy, on Wednesday, handed over a quantity of oil spill response equipment to the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), the lead agency tasked with creating a National Oil Spill Response Contingency Plan.

The CDC is mandated to prepare key public and private stakeholders with a detailed understanding of the Plan and to acquaint them with policy and procedures to be implemented as part of a national oil spill response. Four shipment containers of oil spill resources were handed over to Warrant Officer Carlton Semple at the CDC’s Alternate Emergency Operations Centre at Timehri.

Petroleum Geologist in the Department of Energy, Ms. Marissa Foster, said the Government purchased the equipment primarily for training purposes, to boost the capacity of key stakeholder agencies. “[The CDC] as the agency responsible for oil spill response and preparedness, it will assist them in building capacity among the agencies who are tasked with responding, like the fire service and the Coast Guard……….” she said.

Director General of the CDC, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig, had said that the Commission plans to utilise the resources to ensure that all key agencies are equipped to deal with any adverse effects of the oil sector. “It is our intention to take these and hand it over to the necessary agencies tasked with oil spill response. We are also trying to procure other materials and very soon, the CDC would be meeting with key agencies to see what are some of the resources that they require because we are not just buying materials; we are buying what is most needed,” he asserted. (Ministry of the Presidency)