No oil from the leak at a Syrian coastal power plant has reached the Karpaz coast on Monday, Prime Ministry Undersecretary and Head of the Crisis Committee, Hüseyin Amcaoğlu, said today, Yeniduzen reported.
It was said that 20,000 tonnes of oil had leaked from a power plant in Baniyas, Syria. A 400 metre-long barrier was set up to protect the Karpaz peninsula.
Amcaoğlu told TAK news agency that small amounts of oil nearest to the east coast had been cleared up. However, he added that the wind is expected to change direction on Friday, moving the main body of the fuel oil spill away from the island.
The Coastal Police will send a drone to the region, and the final images will be received today, Amcaoğlu stated.
Two waste collection vessels, one from Çanakkale and the other from Istanbul have set out for the region.
In a separate article, Yeniduzen reported that Greek Cypriot co-chair of the Bicommunal Environmental Technical Committee Michalis Loizides, said that it appears that the oil spill is moving away from Cyprus. He noted that he had had “very good contact” with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart in the Committee about the possibility of helping the Turkish Cypriot side in the fight against the oil spill, but in the end it was no longer deemed necessary.
