Bagerhat Correspondent :
The United Nations (UN) team of experts, investigating the oil spill in the Sundarbans, will make their findings public and submit a report to the Bangladesh government at the end of this month.
“We will announce our findings through a press conference and submit a report to the government on December 31,” Amelia Walstrom, chief of the UN expert team, told reporters on Wednesday.
She informed that the UN experts are investigating the effects of oil spill in six groups. “We’re on a UN-Bangladesh joint mission for the Sundarbans oil spill response.”
“We’ve gathered here in a collaborative effort, working with the government and the national authorities to assess the potential impacts of the oil spill,” she said at a press conference held at Andharmanik area of Chandpai Range in Sundarbans East Division. “We have assembled a very good team of 25 experts, 11 international experts and 14 from Bangladesh, with a lot of expertise. We are probing its impact on various parts of the ecosystem.” She added that her team was studying the environment, wildlife, forest and the potential impact of humans. “Since this is collaboration we are working closely with national experts.”
Walstrom said the team will stay in the Sundarbans for three more days. “We are currently checking out the situation in the rivers and creeks. We are taking samples and talking to communities.”
However, she did not reveal anything about the team’s findings so far saying “it was too early”. However, she did say that her team had some preliminary recommendations for the government.
On December 9, an oil tanker carrying 3.58 lakh litres of furnace oil sank in the world’s largest mangrove forest, being hit by a cargo vessel. The oil spread through the river water.
Following the incident, government requested for foreign experts to investigate the situation, and a 25 member UNDP team reached the Sundarbans on December 22.
