AMMAN — The Tourism and Environment
Commissioner at
Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Nidal Al-Majali
has referred the oil leakage file of last week to Aqaba’s public prosecutor to
proceed with legal action, according to Jo24.
Legal proceedings regard environmental accidents in
territorial waters; in this case, the leakage caused damage to a number of
container port docks, to the passenger port and to a number of southern Aqaba
beaches located within the limits of the marine reserve.
Majali said that the case involves a vessel; the
file contains all details, including documents and reports issued after an
environmental damage assessment studying seawater and coral life. It is now in
the hands of the prosecutor’s office at the Aqaba Court House.
He added that about 11 tonnes of heavy fuel were
leaked. According to preliminary data, there was a hole in the ship’s fuel
tank.
He said that authorities responded swiftly as soon
the accident was reported, on the morning of August 14, by Prince Hamzah Center
for Pollution Control and the Environmental Damage Assessment Team in the Aqaba
Region Authority, in partnership with the Maritime Authority, to prevent the
spread of the leakage. It spread as a result of the winds and waves that lasted
for three consecutive days.
Majali said that work is apace to remove all effects
of the pollution, in the cooperation with beach operators.
Director of the Marine Science Station Ali
Al-Sawalmeh said that all the samples taken to assess the impact of the
pollution on sea water and marine life were studied by specialists at the
station; it showed that currently there is no trace of oil in the water.
Laboratory results on coral also showed that marine life was
able to adapt during the stressful period of the first days of the accident,
according to data from the Coral Monitoring Station.
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