LORD Caithness, the Government Shipping Minister, was last night
accused of inaction on measures to prevent a repeat of the Braer oil
spill.
The criticism was made on the eve of an international conference in
Shetland on marine pollution, at which the Minister will speak today --
after weeks of wavering over whether or not to attend.
Strathclyde East's MEP, Mr Ken Collins, last night backed demands made
locally for a sheriff's or public inquiry into the Braer incident.
Mr Collins, who is chairman of the European Parliament's environment
committee, said the only way to resolve what had happened in the
accident off Shetland in January, was a specific inquiry based in
Shetland.
Lord Donaldson's inquiry was too wide in its remit, and the Marine
Accident Investigation Bureau's report would be secret, he said.
''We have to look to the future to make sure that this kind of thing
does not happen again.''
He called for greater EC control of movement of ships around the
Community, and stricter liability regulations.
A spokesman for the Shetland Labour Party, Mr Peter Hamilton,
criticised Lord Caithness for refusing to meet a cross-party forum
during his visit. The group has petitioned Transport Secretary John
MacGregor for radar monitoring and other measures to protect the
islands' shores, as well as a sheriff's inquiry into the Braer incident.
Meanwhile, marine monitoring has disclosed decreasing contamination of
wild fish and shellfish within the fisheries exclusion zone off southern
Shetland.
An interim report of the Marine Monitoring Programme, by the Scottish
Office Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen, published yesterday, also states
that samples collected from commercial fishing grounds outwith the
exclusion zone were not tainted, and that only 20% of the salmon farms
in Shetland were considered to be at risk.
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