RP launches ship to fight pollution

RP launches ship to fight pollution

MANILA (AFP): The Philippine government yesterday launched an ecology patrol ship to enforce environmental laws on the country's vast coastal waters, officials said.

President Fidel Ramos said at the launching ceremony here that the 46-meter Bantay Kalikasan (Environmental Guardian) will go after poachers, fishermen who use dynamite, ships illegally dumping waste and illegal loggers.

The ship will have a complement of 27 Navy officers, crew and specialists from the Environment and Natural Resources Department, said the Navy spokesman, Commander Anselmo Cabingan.

Cabingan said it will also be able to contain oil spills, "which, because of the marked growth in economic activity within the country, pose an ever-increasing danger."

The ship will be complemented by a debris skimmer boat and a debris dumping barge which will initially be used to retrieve garbage from the bottom of the Pasig river, which bisects Manila.