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Spill recompense eludes fishermen
By Zhang Xuanchen |
September 16, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NEARLY a thousand fishermen who suffered massive losses in China's worst-ever oil spill are losing a compensation battle against the state-owned oil giant - and the government has been of little help to them.
The fishermen in Dalian City, scooping nothing but dead fish or prawns, have been threatened with starvation since the sea was tainted by 11,227 tons of crude oil spilled in a pipeline blast on July 16.
They became even more desperate when the hope for compensation is fading.
After filing numerous complaints and compensation claims to the pipeline's owner PetroChina Co, Dalian government and maritime court, they received only rhetoric and promises that "their words will soon be heard by people concerned."
On September 2, a group of 20 fishermen from Hezuizi Village traveled to the State Bureau for Letters and Calls.
They narrowly slipped past community officials who wanted to stop them at the Dalian train station, and finally talked to staff from PetroChina.
They said their village of 100 households suffered a total of 30 million yuan (US$4.4 million) in losses.
However, they were told by PetroChina to wait longer because the compensation estimation process takes time.
During the whole process, local government kept cool all the time and tried to cool the victims as well.
One fisherman, Shao Deshan, told reporters they had organized nearly 1,000 people to claim their rights on August 23, but were met with a police arrest warning.
What's more, the villagers found they were blacklisted by local law firms, who refused to offer legal support, reported this week's Century Weekly, a nationwide news magazine.
The villagers accused the government of protecting the oil giant, a major taxpayer making multi-million yuan annual contributions to the region's development.
One source told reporters that the oil company is considering pushing the government to compensate the villagers, and then making up for it by boosting industrial input.
The fishermen in Dalian City, scooping nothing but dead fish or prawns, have been threatened with starvation since the sea was tainted by 11,227 tons of crude oil spilled in a pipeline blast on July 16.
They became even more desperate when the hope for compensation is fading.
After filing numerous complaints and compensation claims to the pipeline's owner PetroChina Co, Dalian government and maritime court, they received only rhetoric and promises that "their words will soon be heard by people concerned."
On September 2, a group of 20 fishermen from Hezuizi Village traveled to the State Bureau for Letters and Calls.
They narrowly slipped past community officials who wanted to stop them at the Dalian train station, and finally talked to staff from PetroChina.
They said their village of 100 households suffered a total of 30 million yuan (US$4.4 million) in losses.
However, they were told by PetroChina to wait longer because the compensation estimation process takes time.
During the whole process, local government kept cool all the time and tried to cool the victims as well.
One fisherman, Shao Deshan, told reporters they had organized nearly 1,000 people to claim their rights on August 23, but were met with a police arrest warning.
What's more, the villagers found they were blacklisted by local law firms, who refused to offer legal support, reported this week's Century Weekly, a nationwide news magazine.
The villagers accused the government of protecting the oil giant, a major taxpayer making multi-million yuan annual contributions to the region's development.
One source told reporters that the oil company is considering pushing the government to compensate the villagers, and then making up for it by boosting industrial input.
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