From Chinese Press

Public funds spill in cleanup

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-05 07:48

About 1,500 tons of oil spilled into the sea after an explosion in an oil pipeline in Dalian recently. Apart from using government funds and official means, the local authorities have invited fishermen to help clean up the spill. This may look like a good idea, but it is the responsibility of the oil company, PetroChina, and not the government to pay for the cleanup, says an article on www.rednet.cn. Excerpts:

Local authorities have employed more than 800 fishing boats in Dalian, Liaoning province, to clean up the oil spill. They are paying fishermen 300 yuan for every barrel, or 120 kg, of oil they remove from the sea. So massive is the oil spill that some fishermen are earning up to 3,000 yuan a day, and all this money is being paid from public funds.

Members of NGOs such as Dalian Environmental Protection Volunteers Association and ordinary citizens are busy collecting hair, stockings and gunny bags from Dalian residents to make oil-absorbing booms. But while the local authorities, NGOs and residents are trying every means possible to clean up the spill, PetroChina seems to be doing nothing.

Compare this to the efforts BP has put in to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Apart from that, BP has also agreed to pay more than $960 million as compensation to Louisiana residents and companies.

Although the cleanup operation off the Dalian coast is making real progress after fishermen and residents joined the efforts, the local authorities should not use public funds for the job. Instead, they should make PetroChina pay for the cleanup. Besides, PetroChina is liable to pay compensation to the people affected by the oil spill and the local government.

(China Daily 08/05/2010 page9)