An Australian academic and environmental management expert says the oil spill in Rennell was not just an accident but an inevitable outcome of a broken system.
MV Solomon Trader oil spill on Rennell Island, Solomon Islands. Photo: The Australian High Commission Solomon Islands
In February, a cargo ship loading bauxite from a mine on the island, during bad weather, ran aground on a reef in Lughu Bay, eventually spilling more than a hundred tonnes of heavy fuel oil into the ocean.
After weeks of delays International salvage crews have now contained the spill but a massive clean-up operation is still underway with the assistance of Australia and New Zealand.
Questions of liability, inadequate legislation and corporate responsibility have been pored over again and again with the maritime incident being described by the country's prime minister as the worst man-made environmental disaster in recent times.
Clean up efforts after the oil spill off Rennell Island in Solomon Islands. Photo: Supplied/ Derek Pongi
University of Queensland senior research fellow Simon Albert has spent the last 15 years trying to help both the Solomon Islands government and local communities with environmental management and protection.
Dr Albert said as tragic as the Rennell disaster is for local communities it is also an important opportunity for the country to take stock.
"If we all reflect on this it is more than just a foreign mining company causing environmental damage. I think we all need to reflect on the various stakeholders whether that is the role of the community, the role of the government, the role of outsiders like myself and the role of international partners in creating the environment and the framework to allow this accident to happen."
In the latest twist of events the Indonesian miner Bintan Mining Corporation, which chartered the stricken MV Solomon Trader, is suing the ship's owner King Trader Ltd.
A spokesperson for the miner told the Island Sun they were suing the shipping company as the charterer and on behalf of the people of Rennell Bellona.
"We will stand for the rights of the rights of the people of Rennell Bellona to hold the ship owner viable for the incident", the spokesperson said.