Tuesday, September 16, 2008 More bodies expected after Princess cargo recovery
MORE bodies from the sunken mv Princess of the Stars are expected to arrive in Cebu towards the end of the month after Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) confirmed yesterday that recovery of the toxic cargo and bunker fuel from the vessel will start on Sept. 24.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama said the forensic site at the Cebu International Port (CIP) will be inspected today to find out what other facilities are lacking.
Rec overy
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) medi-co-legal team earlier said that bodies will be recovered once the divers make it inside the sunken Princess of the Stars.
During a meeting yesterday, Rama said that SLI informed the disaster victim identification (DVI) team composed of forensic experts from the NBI and the International Police (Interpol) that the salvor company contracted to pull out the endosulfan cargo will begin their operations next week.
“The forensic site should already be available by then. We are checking on all the requirements on the part of the City Government, and other government agencies,” he told reporters after his meeting with the DVI team yesterday noon.
He said he wants to make sure that all environmental and sanitation concerns are addressed even before the bodies arrive.
Requirements
All the requirements and permits from the Department of Health, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the City Government will also have to be secured.
Rama said he will also follow up with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro the request for the National Government to shoulder the electricity bills of the forensic site, which amounted to P44,000 as of last month.
Some 800 bodies of passengers of the Princess of the Stars have yet to be recovered from the vessel, some three months after it sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon Province. (LCR)
