Barge owner fined P250K for molasses spill in Negros Occidental

SAGAY CITY GOVERNMENT

BACOLOD CITY – The city government of Sagay in Negros Occidental has fined the owner of a vessel responsible for a molasses spill in the Sagay Marine Reserve on Aug. 7.

Sagay City Administrator Ryan Bonghanoy said in an interview on Friday that the owner of MT Mary Queen of Charity was fined P250,000 for violating the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas (E-Nipas) System Act of 2018 (Republic Act 11038), under which the 32,000-hectare area in the city has declared a marine reserve.

The E-Nipas law prohibits littering or depositing of refuse or debris on the ground or in bodies of water declared as protected area. A fine of not less than P200,000 but not more than P1 million shall be imposed, the law said.

While there was no marine life damaged by the spill, MT Mary Queen of Charity has also been earlier cited for negligence by both the city government and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for causing a spill into the water of a marine reserve.

Following the spill, Sagay Mayor Narciso Javelosa Jr. has said that the city government would hold those responsible accountable to prevent future incidents.He also assured that all immediate actions were done to minimize the damage that the molasses spill might cause on the marine reserve.

The Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources may also impose additional fine, according to Bonghanoy.

Seaworthy

Bonghanoy said the barge was allowed to leave the Sagay Feeder Port, which is located with the marine reserve, on Aug. 13 after the fine was paid.

The PCG also certified that the vessel was seaworthy before it left the port, he added.

Bonghanoy said the molasses that spread over 1.3 hectares of the Sagay Marine Reserve was biodegradable and not damaging to marine life as it dissolved in two days.

The incident has not caused any fish kill in the area but the laboratory results of the water samples taken were still being awaited, he added.

Authorities believed there was negligence by the crew members of the vessel that caused the molasses spill in the Sagay Marine Reserve.

The initial inspection by the PCG confirmed that the vessel’s hull was intact and could not have been the source of the spill.

However, the molasses may have spilled during its transfer from a tanker truck to the vessel as shown in the investigation conducted by the local government of Sagay, the PCG, and the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office.