Colombia's southern coast, the locale of the Tumaco inlet, which the FAO considered to be one of those with the highest productivity levels in the world during the 60's, is affected everyday by the continuous oil spills, 6 in the last 25 years. And yet, all runs its course normally as if nothing had ever happened.
The last oil spill in the southern Colombian coast took place on July 3,1998, and contaminated beaches, mangrove swamps, estuaries, marine life, and it even affected the biodiversity reserves of the planet along the coast, as it is the case of the natural national parks of Gorgona Island, Sanqu’anga and the Utr’a Inlet.
It is truly a pity that 120 days after the spill, there still has not been a Colombian government official pronouncement, or one from the Ecuadoriangovernment, in order to address the emergency through which the population is going, a population whose number reaches more than 1.500 affected families.
We call upon the environmental authorities in Colombia and around the world to demand that the oil companies, both in Colombia and in Ecuador,establish bioreparation plans in the affected ecosystems, indemnity fundsfor the affected population, and contingency plans in order to diminish thefrequency of oil spills in the Colombian Pacific coast.
For the right to life,
THE AFFECTED BLACK COMMUNITIES