The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE assurances from a Cabinet Minister that all remains well in Long Island after the grounding of a supplies barge, residents there are suggesting blatant mismanagement and bureaucracy “made a bad situation worse.”

Shortly after Transport and Aviation Minister Frankie Campbell briefed his Parliamentary colleagues on the latest on Long Island, residents interviewed by The Tribune suggested local intervention was prohibited for more than 72-hours.

“From Saturday to late (Tuesday) night, we were made to watch that boat and everything on it go down,” Marvin Cartwright, a resident of Grays, Long Island told The Tribune.

According to the life-long boater, the decision not to rescue the equipment and supplies from the damaged barge earlier in the process, ultimately doomed all efforts.

Mr Cartwright stated: “We were told to stand down by police. They said it was being handled. I was told that to my face. My plan from Saturday was to go out there, secure the site and ensure that nothing happened to it.”

Plan

He continued: “They wanted to tow it down to Clearance Town. Anyone that saw that vessel could see it had no chance of getting over there. That is why we offered to help. The first plan was to move the stuff off of the barge in hopes of saving them. I had a group of guys with me and we loaded the truck down with supplies - everything from rope to sleeping bags, but once we got there, we were told that it was a police matter now, and that the police were dealing with it.”

Mr Cartwright said several other crews were also turned away between Saturday and Sunday.

Furthermore, Mr Cartwright said on Monday, while on a routine fishing trip roughly a mile and a half out from the damaged barge, he encountered a strong stench of fuel.

He, and at least two other boat captains operating in the area Monday, said fuel slicks could be seen on the surface of the sea.

“I was asked then, after days of trying to help, to put together a proposal on what should be done.

“After they said nothing was wrong. After they said no fuel was leaking. After they told us that there was nothing we needed to do. Now they want us to help when the weather turned bad and they realised that everything we told them was going to happen, happened.”

“I told them I wasn’t trained or had the equipment. I was only trying to help from the standpoint of not wanting to see that barge go down,” he added.

Long Island MP Adrian Gibson, in a series of updates on his official Facebook page over the weekend, said the barge was discovered on Saturday after running aground along the coastline of Grays, Long Island.

He said the barge was en route to Anguilla from Trinidad when it broke away from the tug transporting it.

Discovery

At the time of its discovery, Mr Gibson said the barge appeared to be carrying approximately 7,000 gallons of fuel, along with relief supplies, heavy machinery, cell phone towers, utility poles, bucket trucks, and a crane. The items were purportedly earmarked for St Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, Mr Gibson said.

Yesterday Mr Gibson told parliament: “I thank the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Environment for their responsiveness to my many frantic calls on Saturday night.

“As of this morning, the fuel containers are in the water and busted open; the containers are open; the items that were formerly on the deck are in the water.

“The fuel is in the water covering a space of more than seven miles.”“Over the last few days, we have felt helpless.

“I have spent the last few days pursuing all help and support.

“... As we speak, an emergency and relief team is heading to Long Island.

“Admittedly, the responses of the certain government agencies to this matter could’ve and should’ve been faster and less slothful; and certainly more coordinated.

“We need an Environmental Protection Act... We must form an environmental emergency response unit, one that is fully resourced and at the ready to address such incidents.

“We must decentralize and, on the local level, form and empower Family Island response teams to protect our environment.”

In his Parliamentary address Wednesday, Mr Campbell said the government was led to believe the matter was “under control” up to Monday.

However, he said poor weather Tuesday resulted in “the cargo that was on the barge” now being “in the water in Long Island.”

Moreover, he confirmed that “some” diesel containers were part of the cargo that ended up in the water.

Despite these revelations, Mr Campbell concluded that he was “satisfied” that the matter was being adequately addressed.