Friday, August 29, 2008 BMI findings expected, says Tomas
FOR Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, the Board of Marine Inquiry’s (BMI) recommendations and findings on the sinking of the Princess of the Stars were expected, including the exclusion of some government officials from any liability.
“I do not like to be the judge on whether the recommendations are acceptable or not. I’m just saying that if this happened in Canada, the United States, Taiwan or Japan, the secretary of transportation would be fired, including their Marina. In Japan, the transportation chief would resign and commit hara-kiri,” he told a news conference yesterday.
When asked if Department of Transportation and Communications and the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) officials should have also been held liable, the mayor said: “At some point, if this happens again, they should be fired.”
Not enough
Osmeña believes the inspection conducted by maritime agencies on all Sulpicio Lines Inc. vessels is not enough, and they should implement changes that will reduce the risks involving their ships.
“Personally, I’m not surprised by the report. That is why my recommendation is to change the management of Sulpicio,” he said.
Sulpicio Port Captain Nestor Ponteres, in an interview last night, said they already corrected everything that Marina asked them to fix.
“We are doing everything to follow the conditions set by Marina. We are even ready for reinspection,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
Among other things, the BMI recommended the suspension of Sulpicio Lines Inc.’s (SLI) license for its failure to ensure the safe transport of passengers and cargo to their destination.
Changes
It also held the SLI accountable administratively, to be further investigated for possible criminal liabilities and for its president and chief executive officer to be held responsible for failing to supervise its employees.
Osmeña, however, reiterated that the sinking of the vessel last June 21, which killed some 800 crew members and passengers, is not an isolated case where SLI is concerned.
“I asked a very basic question. After Sulpicio was given a permit to operate, what changes did they do that will reduce the risk of the situation? The inspection of the ships is not acceptable, it’s not enough. They were not even transparent with it,” Osmeña said.
He further said that the government agencies and SLI did not highlight the defects found during the inspection, and why the ships are able to sail despite the deficiencies.
“I’m just saying that the situation still has not changed and it’s my duty to inform the people that it’s not safe. How unsafe it is, I don’t know. But the fact is that they have a bad record and I don’t see changes being imposed that will improve the situation,” he added. (LCR/With EOB)
