Mauritius’s Massive Oil Spill: Thousands Marched in Protests!

Mauritius’s thousands of people recently marched through Port Louis, the country’s capital, in the protest of massive oil spills handled by the authorities, and for the discovery of about 39 dead dolphins. 

Several people wore blacks and moved ahead, waving the national flag, drumming, and honking the horns. Many people called for the government to resign, and they wore a t-shirt for the inspiration of the same, stating, “I love my country. I’m ashamed of my government“. This is the most significant protest experienced by the country in several recent years.

On 25th July 2020, a lot of oil spilled, around 1,000 tonnes, into a wildlife sanctuary, just after the MV Wakashio, a Japanese ship, struck the coral reef. 

People believe that the government lacked in taking the right measures to prevent the same, and there were also criticisms on the government’s decision of sinking the ship after its splitting into 2 parts. 

A women speaker said that they protested in need of wanting the truth on why there were no steps taken when the ship approached the coastline, why there were no steps taken for about 12 days until the time came, and oil spilled down. This all has affected several lives, mostly the marine people, and thousands of people are now affected due to that all.

Mauritius held demonstrations in several cities, including the top developed ones too, like Paris and London. The government of Mauritius also promised to investigate the spill setting up a commission specifically for the same. Also, the ship’s captain got arrested and charged with navigation for endangering the safety too. Yet, the captain hasn’t commented on the matter till now.

However, the cause for the loss of the dolphins’ lives is not yet exact; they were just found washed up at the shore earlier this week. According to the examination carried on the two bodies of the dolphins by the experts, there were bite marks on the sharks’ bodies, but there was no trace of hydrocarbons found in their bodies.

Additionally, the environment campaigners demanded a separate and independent investigation in the matter. They consider their deaths to be the cause of oil spills or the scuttle of the spill. 

The country caters to many tourists and is a significant industry in the matter, and this massive spill caused severe effects to the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to all these, international travel got blocked further.