The French oil company Total took over this Saturday, responsible for the spill of 35 cubic meters of crude oil that occurred last October 22 in block 32, which is about 93 miles from the sea coast of Soyo, province of Zaire, during an operation of crude loading.
In a press release, to which Angop had access, the oil company guarantees that several human and logistical resources have been mobilized for operations to disperse, contain and mitigate possible damage to the marine ecosystem. According to the operator, efforts are also being made to minimize the possible impact of this spill on communities and the environment, with the accident and its consequences deserving due monitoring by specialists from the oil company. It should be noted that technicians from the Ministries of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Mineral Resources and Petroleum have been working since Friday in the locality, to ascertain the real situation on the ground.
Present in the country since 1953, the TOTAL oil company was the first company in the industry to operate in Angola, currently with a daily production of 600,000 barrels of oil, which represents about 40 percent of national production. It operates in blocks 16,17,17 / 06, 20/11, 21 / 09,32 and 48 and has interests in blocks 0, 14, Lianzi and Angola LNG.
Coastal towns resent the oil spill
The negative impact of the aforementioned crude oil spill began to be felt by the 1,500 inhabitants of the coastal villages of Cavugi, Kifuma and Impanga, in the municipality of Soyo, whose spots reached the Nzombo River, located nearby where the population draws water for the household consumption. According to the region’s governor, Sebastião Simba Nkengue, who spoke to ANGOP, the spots from this leak reached the village of Tombe and the area of field-8, where the water wells used by the population are located.
The soba fears health risks with the consumption of this water by the villagers who have no other source for obtaining this liquid, so he requested the intervention of the local administrative authorities to avoid the worst. He also spoke of the damage caused to fishermen, so he appealed to the oil company TOTAL to common sense, in order to give an appropriate and quick treatment to the situation caused.
According to him, the solution to this problem should also include compensation for damages caused to the inhabitants of the affected areas and to fishermen. In turn, the head of the Kifuma fishermen’s cooperative, Pedro Josefina, revealed that a preliminary meeting to address this issue has already been held with local officials from the TOTAL oil company, which also served to assess the damage caused and enlist people injured.
The fisherman said he hoped that the operator would resolve the situation of cleaning up the spill with the utmost urgency, since a significant part of the local population survives from artisanal fishing, noting that crude stains may extend, at any time, to others. areas if there is a delay in their removal. It should be noted that this spill also affected the sea coast of Nzeto, another municipality in Zaire located on the coast.
Zaire province has a 250-kilometer coastline, comprising the municipalities of Soyo, Nzeto and Tomboco, and had the last oil spill in February this year, at Quinfuquena beach, also in Soyo.
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