| Faza Suraj |
THE mobilisation of assets and manpower during the live ‘Exercise Shining Shore’ yesterday was quite exceptional, said the Minister of Communications.
“The level of knowledge and expertise acquired through the whole operation is very important,” Dato Paduka Awang Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat stressed, adding that effective response depends on the preparedness of the assets and personnel.
The two-day exercise which aimed to test the emergency response capability of Brunei Gas Carriers Sdn Bhd (BGC) and Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd with support from Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd (BSP) and the relevant government agencies under the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan Management Committee (NOSCOP MC) concluded yesterday.
“The participants were generally well-versed on all the issues, such as what to anticipate while preparing projections of the likely things to happen,” added the minister.
The minister was speaking after visiting the Anduki Mangroves yesterday at the Incident Command Post of the exercise to observe the preparation of the onshore oil spill response, in an event such response needs to be undertaken.
When asked about the other areas that can be improved, the minister said, “I think this is something we need to practise from time to time to see what loopholes are there.”
Dato Paduka Awang Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat, the Minister of Communications, inquiring about equipment used during ‘Exercise Shining Shore’
Workers extracting oil from sand during ‘Exercise Shining Shore’. – PHOTOS: FAZA SURAJ
“In exercises such as this, there are many areas to improve on, and all this can only be determined when you conduct exercises especially on a bigger scale,” said the minister and added that as far as oil spills are concerned, it can escalate to different levels of crisis such as Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3.
“But as a whole, being able to assess the situation from the ground to the information centre to the planning centre and so forth is very important.”
When asked what could be done to further strengthen the coordination and communication between the participating parties, he said that, no single entity should work in isolation.
The minister also took the opportunity to advise that everyone should acquire all the required information related to their roles and responsibilities in the exercise.
“You cannot be waiting for information to come,” he pointed out. “If your responsibility is to disseminate information, you have to find those pieces of information.
If your responsibility is to look at the trajectory and find out what would happen, you have to assess the situation and share that information.”
“They have to work very closely,” the minister said, citing the need to handle the media as an example, with reason that there is always a tendency in a section of the society that wants to obtain its own information.
“Management of information is very important,” he said.
“Likewise in the manpower perspective, such exercises are necessary so that they (participating personnel) know what they’re supposed to do during real life situations,” said the minister.
He also noted that the public would like more transparency in the whole process especially the ability of companies and government agencies in assessing the situation, particularly the level of the danger.
At the Incident Command Post, the minister was greeted by Mohamad bin Haji Awang Damit, Managing Director of Brunei LNG; Haji Md Yusof bin Haji Md Taufiq, QHSSE Manager of BGC; and Dr Hajah Siti Haziah binti Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin, HSE Manager of BSP.
The exercise was triggered by MV Sinaran, operated by BGC, that collided with the Brunei LNG loading jetty in Lumut. As a result of this, there was Tier 2 oil spill response with a high possibility of the spill hitting the shore of Anduki. Therefore, as per procedures, the NOSCOP MC and the BSP oil spill response team were activated.
The Belait District Disaster Management Centre also supported the simulated emergency response.
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