It is not the first report because a few days ago, a tourist already raised the alarm for this issue. This morning, there was a much bigger oil stain on the north coast of our island. With this, it can officially be noted that Aruba is becoming a victim of an oil spill in Trinidad & Tobago, which is now affecting our beaches.
It has been over a month since the alarm was raised for an oil spill in the waters of Trinidad & Tobago. At that time, no one was discussing this topic until on February 23, 2024, the effects of the spill reached our sister island Bonaire. At that time, dead fish and various blackened areas were observed along the beaches.
After reaching Bonaire, the Aruban government, including the Crisis Management Office (CMO), indicated that Aruba had transitioned from code yellow to code orange. They even stated that they did not expect it to reach Aruba considering the ocean currents.
Despite Aruba being over 800 KM away from Trinidad & Tobago, on March 9th, several oil slicks were observed on the north coast of our island. This is just a short distance north of the Natural Bridgenear Boca Sardinchi, where there is an entire area covered in oil.
One of our Headlines Group teams was the first to arrive at the scene to assess the situation. The smell upon arrival was overwhelming. Meanwhile, even though there is enough evidence, the Aruban Government, under the leadership of Vice Prime Minister Ursell Arends, is still not taking action against the situation.
The government has informed us that they are monitoring the situation, but now the oil has already started hardening on our cliffs. This is a dangerous situation and even a national threat.
In any case, a solution must be brought forth; the situation is a reality, and now it is a matter of seeing if the entire area will be closed off and inspected. The current task is to clean up and prevent further oil spills from reaching and affecting our beaches. In Bonaire, the Military Corps was used for the cleanup task, while Aruba is relying entirely on volunteers.
