His Excellency The Governor, Mr. Thomas Macan and Rear Admiral Thomas Gilmour shake hands following the Agreement Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and the BVI. [photo Rick Evans GIS]

BVI AND USA GOVERNMENT SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

 The Government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Government of the United States of America (USA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on August 12 aboard the U.S Coast Guard Cutter CONFIDENCE docked at the cruise ship pier in Road Town.

The event comes almost five months after more than 200 gallons of oil spilled into the sea at Pockwood Pond, Tortola, during a ship-to-shore hose operation from an oil tanker to a gas station. More than 5,250 feet of coastline were affected and dead marine species were found during clean-up efforts.

The bilateral agreement was signed by His Excellency the Governor, Thomas Macan and United States Coast Guard’s Admiral Thomas Gilmour. Under this bilateral agreement the USA will assist with problems arising from the discharge of oil or other hazardous and noxious substances into waters of the British Virgin Islands.

Governor Macan in his remarks said, “We see it very important to protect our waters and keep our coasts of the BVI clean. It is very important that we create relationships with the Unites States Virgin Islands (USVI), Puerto Rico and the wider region.”

He added, “Spilled oil can spread very fast, making my problem become your problem. The type of pollution we are here to combat is always someone’s fault in that an improper connection, unsupervised transfer, and bad navigation can indeed cause a very big problem.” The BVI he said has modest resources to deal with coastal disasters, but in a large-scale event more assistance is needed.

Governor Macan thanked the Department of Disaster Management, guided by the Deputy Governor’s Office, the US Government and other Government officials for making the bilateral agreement a reality after five years of negotiations.

Admiral Gilmour who is the Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection said, “This ceremony and signing represents a remarkable milestone in the work between the two governments. We have a joint and systematic plan and commitment for spilled response. We are looking forward to help curb and alleviate these disasters that may cause disruption to marine and coastal environment that are so important to us and our nations.”

The agreement binds both parties into shared training and exercises. It also addresses responses, assistance, consultation and notification among contracting parties in the event of an oil spill, area of pollution response, prevention, contingency planning, exchange of information, equipment, privileges and immunities, operational guidance, reimbursement and access.