Cedros
fishermen: Petrotrin owes us $.5m
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
12 09 07
THE
fishermen of Fullerton Village, Cedros, believe State-owned
Petrotrin owes them $.5 million for
the damage done to their boats and equipment by
oil coming
from offshore oilfields.
Petrotrin said it had done enough over the weekend
to clean the beaches and boats belonging to the
fishermen between Cap de Ville and Columbus Bay,
on Trinidad's South Western peninsular.
The source of the spill was unknown up to late
yesterday and the Environmental Management Authority
(EMA) joined the investigation being conducted
by Petrotrin and its sister company Trinmar.
The spill was discovered by fishermen last Friday
as they prepared to go out to sea.
A clean-up crew began restoration work on the
beach from the following day.
Spokesperson for the fishermen, Dennison Moodie,
said their boats had been cleaned but ropes and
engines were still unusable.
"We
have been waiting for four days to go back to
sea. The company told us not to go out
until they find out what is the cause of the spill.
So they owe us big."
He said there were 23 affected boats and each
owner wanted $5,500 a day.
More than 100 fishermen were affected by the spill,
he said.
Moodie, who owns three of the boats coated in
oil, said it was the third time such a spill had
hit the village.
On the last occasion, fishermen were compensated
as much as $20,000.
He said he expected no less this time.
Story
by Richard Charan from Trinidad Express
-rcharan@trinidadexpress.com
Trinidad
Express
Tuesday, November 27th 2007
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