DAVAO CITY, 20 July — Beach resort owners in Davao City and in the Island Garden City of Samal yesterday raised fears that the oil spill from a ship that sank at the Sasa wharf on Tuesday will soon contaminate their beachfronts. The coast guard is also having a difficult time investigating the collision of the domestic cargo vessel, which was rammed by a berthing foreign cargo vessel, as the owners allegedly did not show interest in cleaning up the oil spill. “I called up Oceanic Shipping, the shipping line of M/V Dingalan Bay, but they did not act on it,” Coast Guard 11 Commander Cresolito Agustin said on TV. Councilor Tomas Monteverde IV, chairman of the council committee on environment and natural resources, said it was a good thing that Shell Philippines helped in the cleanup operations. Monteverde went to the Sasa wharf yesterday to check on the extent of the damage caused by the spill following concerns raised by beach resort owners. Agustin said around P80,000 a barrel. Agustin said they have so far recovered 20 drums of oil from the spill, adding that the cleanup is expected to be completed in one week’s time. (Adel Tolentino)
