A LEGAL team comprising local and international lawyers is set to file a compensation claim next week against the insurer Korea Protection and Indemnity Club (KP&I) over the 2019 oil spill at Kangava Bay, Rennell Island, Renbel Province.
The move aims to meet the six-year statute of limitations for civil cases, with the incident occurring in February 2019.
The team includes the former head of the Public Solicitor’s Office’s Landowner Advocacy and Legal Support Unit, William Kadi, who now works with Primo Afeau’s law firm, and lawyers from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Representing the people of Lughu ward in Rennell, the legal team seeks redress for severe environmental damage caused to the sea and land.
According to the spokesperson for the landowners and president of the Workers Union of Solomon Islands (WUSI), Tony Kagovai, the application has already been completed.
Mr Kagovai stated that the application will undergo final vetting by the landowners before being filed in court next week.
He also expressed disappointment with the National Government for failing to take the lead in supporting the landowners’ case.
A government-commissioned environmental damage assessment revealed significant ecological impacts and economic losses resulting from the grounding of the MV Solomon Trader and the subsequent oil spill.
These losses are estimated to range between SBD112Million (US$14Million) and SBD304.6Million (USD38Million).
In 2022, Attorney General John Muria Junior reported that his office had submitted a multimillion-dollar claim to KP&I.
This followed the Solomon Islands’ 2021 ratification of the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (the “Bunkers Convention”), prompted by the February 2019 grounding of the Hong Kong-based MV Solomon Trader.
The spill released over 300 tonnes of heavy fuel oil into Kangava Bay, causing the destruction of over 10,000 square metres of reef and more than 4,000 square metres of lagoon habitat, according to an ABC report.
An additional 30,000 square metres of lagoon habitat were exposed to heavy fuel oil in the weeks following the spill.
Rennell Island, recognised as a biodiversity hotspot, had its eastern half designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998.
However, extensive logging, mining, and invasive species have since led to its classification as a site “in danger.”
The western half of Rennell Island was leased in 2015 to Asia Pacific Investment and Development Ltd (APID) for bauxite mining.
‘APID subcontracted the mining to Bintan Mining Solomon Islands, which exported approximately 300,000 tonnes of bauxite ore per month across 34 shipments.
The environmental damage assessment estimates total losses ranging from SBD19 million to SBD51 million, depending on natural recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
Without rehabilitation, recovery could take up to 130 years, while an active rehabilitation programme could reduce this to 50 years.
By EDDIE OSIFELO
Solomon Star, Honiara
