SLCG facilitates five day long Oil Spill Response Workshop
June 06, 2022The inaugural ceremony of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) facilitated five day long ‘Oil Spill Response Workshop and Exercise’ was held at the Hilton Hotel, Colombo today (Jun 6).
HE Julie J. Chung, the Ambassador of the United States to Sri Lanka and Maldives graced the inaugural ceremony as the Chief Guest and Rear Admiral Anura Ekanayake, Director General of SLCG was present as the Guest of Honour.
According to the SLCG sources, the focal point of this initiative is to enhance sustainable cooperation between the state and other agencies in order to mitigate maritime environmental challenges and improve adequate oil spill response capability.
The SLCG said workshop is spearheaded by the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Environmental Security Directorate along with US Embassy in Colombo from Jun 6 to 10 this year in response to the request made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the concurrence of the Defence Ministry.
All Government stakeholders involving in maritime incident response in the island have nominated their participants for the workshop.
On the fourth day of the workshop, SLCG will conduct an equipment deployment exercise and static display at the Dikovita Fishery Harbour to showcase the existing capacity and the capability of the SLCG, the SLCG also confirmed.
Lieutenant Commander Sean Jin, the Chief of the Office of Defence Cooperation of the US Embassy, and representatives from the US Embassy in Colombo also joined the inaugural ceremony today.
Representatives from the Central Environment Authority, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Limited, Coast Conservation and Coastal Resources Management Department, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Disaster Management Centre, Foreign Ministry, Marine Environment Protection Authority, Merchant Shipping Secretariat, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, Sri Lanka Air Force, SLCG, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Ports Authority will also attend the workshop, the SLCG added.
