Malaysia needs coordinated response to oil and chemical spills at sea, says Dr Wee

PETALING JAYA: As a seafaring nation, Malaysia needs to look into building a more streamlined process for coordinating its agencies' response to maritime spills, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The Transport Minister said the country must be more prepared for all kinds of situations such as solving problems brought about by oil and chemical spills.

These are multi-factor challenges that pose a different puzzle at every site, he said after a training session and briefing at the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd (ITOPF) offices on his working visit to London on Friday (Oct 15).

ITOPF's experts have been called in the past to give technical support in response to oil spills in the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Johor Port, and Labuan Port, including investigating causes and advising rescue and clean-up efforts.

"During the virtual training session at the ITOPF offices, we were tasked with identifying and snapping photos of suspected oil spills and other chemical spills as a result of incidents at sea.

"ITOPF is a not-for-profit organisation that provides spill response, damage assessment, advisory work, training and education to help prevent and minimise the social and ecological damage from chemical spills at sea," Dr Wee said in a Facebook post on Friday.

Earlier, he said the Malaysian delegation received a comprehensive briefing from ITOPF technical team manager Dr Mark Whittington and technical adviser Miguel Patel on the need for countries and governments to prepare a quick and effective spill response plan.

"ITOPF managing director-designate Mr Oli Beavon also came to welcome us. He takes over from Dr Karen Purnell, who is retiring at the end of the year," he added.