ID :
294721
Wed, 07/31/2013 - 17:35
Auther :

Centres set up to assist people affected by crude spill

BANGKOK, July 31 (TNA) - Rayong province in the Thai East has set up coordinating centres to assist seaside locals and businesses affected by last Saturday's 50 tonne-crude oil leak from a pipeline of PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC). Rayong Governor Vichit Chartpaisit has ordered the setting up of the provincial coordinating centres and chaired a meeting of working groups of the centres on Wednesday to discuss measures to assist the affected locals and businesses in an integrated manner. The governor acknowledged that provincial seaside businesses, including tourism, restaurant, ferry and fishery operators, have been mostly affected by the crude spills, particularly those near Phrao Bay on Samet Island. The Rayong governor urged the affected businesses to register for the official assistance, together with evidence, namely documents or photos, to prove their losses from the crude spillovers. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ Department of Fisheries confirmed that the crude spillovers have not yet seriously affected marine lives in the province, but the department will conduct a thorough survey on all damages under its jurisdiction after the oil spills are all cleared and to then file a judicial case against PTTGC. Deputy Public Health Minister Sorawong Tienthong, on the other hand, affirmed that seafood in the Gulf of Thailand in the vicinity of Rayong has remained safe, thanks to prompt actions by agencies concerned to limit and to clear the spillovers, noting that he has instructed his ministry's mobile medical unit to, however, provide medical check-ups to people in affected zones and to distribute face masks for them, as four residents on Samet Island reportedly felt ill after breathing the oil fume. (TNA)

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