Quito – Repairing damage to Ecuador’s Amazon Cuyabeno Park caused by an oil spill 10 days ago could cost up to $8 million, Galo Chiriboga, president of state-owned Petroecuador, said Monday.
Officials say the oil spill was the result of sabotage. Chiriboga told reporters Monday that insurance will cover the costs and that authorities will hold a tender in the coming days for the clean-up contract.
Chiriboga is also forming an oversight team to monitor clean-up efforts in Cuyabeno Park, which is a protected environmental zone, a wildlife reserve and one of Ecuador’s most important tourist spots in the Amazon. Lucy Ruiz, Petroecuador’s environmental manager, said the oil spill damaged at least one hectare of the park.
“We are looking for a group of citizens to keep watch over the results of the clean-up, and likewise over the investigations of these attacks, which are common in the area,” Chiriboga said.
The executive added that he will also appoint a lawyer specialized in environmental issues to work with police officials, in order to assure that the perpetrators can be prosecuted.
The oversight team will comprise people involved in environmental protection activities, such as ex-Environmental Minister Yolanda Kakabadse and ecologist Esperanza Martinez of the non-governmental organization Accion Ecologica.
According to Petroecuador, there have been more than 40 attacks on oil installations in 2006, and each incident has cost at least $3 million in clean-up efforts. Jaime Crow, vice president of Petroecuador unit Petroproduccion, said the sabotage is carried out by local residents to demand state compensation for environmental damage.
-By Maria Elena Verdezoto, Dow Jones Newswires;
5939-6331-768; mercedes.alvaro@dowjones.com
