Peru declares ‘environmental emergency’ to battle oil spill
Peru has declared an environmental emergency to battle an oil spill caused by freak waves from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific.
With its 90-day decree, the government said on Saturday that it plans “sustainable management” of 21 beaches tarred by 6,000 barrels of oil that spilled from a tanker ship unloading at a refinery last Saturday.
One aim of the decree is to better organise the various agencies and teams working in the aftermath of the disaster, said the environment ministry.
The environment ministry said 174 hectares – equivalent to 270 football fields – of sea, beaches and natural reserves were affected by the spill.
Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Roberto Sanchez estimated on Saturday that economic losses total more than $50 million, all sectors combined.
“In a normal season, between January and March (during Peru’s summer) five million people visit the affected beaches. The economic loss is immense,” Sanchez said, adding that thousands of jobs had been affected and the tourism sector “mortally wounded.”
The government is demanding payment of damages from the Spanish energy giant Repsol which owns the refinery.
Source – TRT World
Bank of Uganda governor Mutebile dies in Nairobi
Bank of Uganda governor, Prof Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile is dead. Mutebile died today morning at Nairobi Hospital in neighbouring Kenya, according to an announcement by deputy governor Micheal Atingi-Ego. He was 72.
Mutebile was admitted to Nairobi hospital on Sunday, December 31, 2021, after he collapsed due to complications related to diabetes. He had been in and out of hospital in recent years for the same complications.
Mutebile, a seasoned professional economist has served as governor and chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of Uganda since 2001, and had just started a new term of office for which he was reappointed in 2021. He served as secretary to the treasury from 1992 to 2001 when he was appointed governor.
He is remembered for spearheading the design and implementation of the Economic Reform Program that restored Uganda from the economic crises of the 1970s and 1980s to sound economic performance during his service as the permanent secretary/secretary to the Treasury in the ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development.
He also worked as a consultant for multilateral and regional organizations including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of East and Central Africa, UK Department for International Development, the North-South Institute in Canada, and for the governments of Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, and Nepal.
Source – Observer