Page 86 - Navy Journal 219

Navy Journal 2019

been little success in preventing and controlling marine pollution. Therefore,
comprehensive legislation is urgently needed to make international conventions
concerning marine environment and marine pollution effective.
BPC. Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) under the Ministry of Power,
Energy & Mineral Resources (MPEMR) is responsible to supervise, co-ordinate
and control all the activities relating to import, store, marketing, distribution of
petroleum products in the country. BPC should play the most vital role to ensure
safe handling of oil and actions to respond oil spill incident. They need to direct
all oil handling companies/ships to prepare their own contingency plan and be
ready to response any oil spill made by them.
Port Authorities. As per Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act, it is mandatory
for the muster of all sea going vessel to abide by laws and report any marine
pollution, but in Bangladesh due to insufficient surveillance and monitoring
system plus lax enforcement of law in this particular field, the people are taking
advantage. The Port authorities need to improve their surveillance and
monitoring capabilities to prevent marine pollution by sea going ships.

Oil Importers. The Government has allowed five furnace oil-based private
power plants to import fuel oil without tax in 2011. All those power plant should
be directed to procure oil spill response gear and prepare their contingency plan
to handle oil spill disaster.
Ministry of Education ( MoED). Eco- Literacy is a new but powerful concept
to promote protection of local marine environment. It enables children to
understand Eco- system and how they are influenced by human. It also educates
communities to identify the causes and solution to environmental pollution.
Therefore topic on marine pollution and its impact may be incorporated in school
level syllabus by MoED.
NGO’s and Media Initiatives. NGOs can play a vital role in the integration of
communities. They can be involved in management and restoration of marine
ecosystems including lakes, reservoirs, rivers, ponds etc. The interactions of
NGOs with Government Organizations, community and media will create huge
awareness on environmental issues throughout the nation.
Response to Oil Spill Pollution

Oil spill response is a progressive and steady operation because risks of fire
hazard/ explosion are present in the early stages. Therefore, to minimize fire
hazard and reduce vapour, water may be sprayed at first instance. However, to

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