THE Penal/Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) and Heritage Petrotrin have reported that clean-up work to deal with an oily substance in the South Oropouche River has been significantly completed.

The substance was reported last week in an area which is uninhabited.

In a statement on August 25, Heritage said clean-up operations are 90 per cent complete.

Containment booms and absorbent pads have been installed in the river, near Suchit Trace, where the substance was spotted.

The company said work in the area is expected to be completed within the next 24-48 hours.

When Newsday visited the area on August 27, there was no oily substance in the river or the surrounding environs. The booms and absorbent pads were also gone.

Some vendors who sell in the area told Newsday they knew nothing about any oil spill.

Heritage also said there were no leaks from any of its assets in the Penal/Barrackpore area. The company added this was the only place the reported substance could have originated from.

It said, "We take this opportunity to alert residents to be lawful and considerate when disposing of contaminants and other effluents into our watercourses."

PDRC chairman Gowtam Maharaj was pleased the leak had been dealt with.

In a statement, Maharaj said while no one lives near the spot where the spill occurred, many people use the river as a source of income.

"Those rivers go straight into the mangrove areas, it goes into the Pluck Road/Woodland area. There are operators that may be doing fishing, crab catching etc."

Maharaj urged residents to continue to be observant and report any developments they see in the area to the relevant authorities.

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