Guimaras guv inspects oil spill damages in Buenavista
Guimaras Governor Samuel Gumarin inspected five barangays in Buenavista town of their island province to assess the damages caused by the oil spill following an explosion in a power barge stationed in Iloilo City.
Gumarin visited the villages of Navalas, Bacjao, San Miguel, Getulio, and East Valencia on Wednesday, July 8.
Since the explosion in the power barge of the AC Energy Philippines of the Ayala Corporation on July 3 in neighboring Iloilo City, the number of affected barangays in Guimaras has increased to 27, per data of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office as of July 8.
Seventeen of these barangays are from the municipality of Buenavista, eight from Jordan and two from San Lorenzo.
Gumarin said their top priority is to prevent the bunker oil from spreading further on the shorelines of the province as the oil spill has already greatly affected residents in the said coastal barangays.
He also appealed to concerned government agencies to assist the province in assessing the damages brought about by the incident.
“Nagapangayo kita bulig indi lang sang Ayala Corporation kundi sang iban nga branches kag departamento sang ahensiya sang gobyerno sa diin mabuligan ang probinsiya sang Guimaras to make sure nga ang amon assessment is true kag makacompensate sa madula nga ekonomiya sang mga kabarangayan namon kag mga munisipyo (We are asking for the help not only of the Ayala Corporation but also of the other branches and departments of the agencies of government to assist the province of Guimaras to make sure that our assessment is true and could compensate the economic losses of our barangay and municipalities ),” said Gumarin.
He added that the provincial government is looking for ways to assist fisherfolks and families who were affected by the oil spill.