00:00About six feet of a Heritage Petroleum Company Limited pipeline was found to be detached along GP Road in Barakpur,
00:09leading to an oil spill around 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
00:12We have had a situation in the Barakpur area where we have had a leakage, an oil leakage on a
00:19particular province operated by a private operator but working with Heritage and it has been reported to the police as
00:27a matter of sabotage where apparently elements have invaded the facility and they destroyed the pipeline with the intention of
00:37stealing significant lengths of pipe.
00:41In response, Heritage activated its incident management protocols and dispatched teams to the area. Multiple vacuum trucks, other heavy machinery
00:51and containment booms were deployed to recover the spilled oil from on-land, in drains and nearby watercourses.
00:59And we are working now with the police to support the police and their investigation but I want to condemn
01:04that act of vandalism and theft that has now reached the stage where individuals are stealing the pipeline infrastructure and
01:14we will work with Heritage to ensure that they upgrade and heighten and expand our security capacity in the oil
01:22field.
01:22Dr. Munilal says given that recently vandals cut high-voltage cables powering HTC developments in Princess Town and San Fernando,
01:32leaving thousands without electricity for hours, it's possible these acts may be well coordinated.
01:39It may well be the work of organized crime as well to be involved in that across state enterprises because
01:46it is TNTech, it is TSTT, it is Heritage Pipeline Infrastructure, so it may be something that is coordinated with
01:54a mastermind behind it.
01:56In response to Tuesday's spill, Heritage unequivocally condemned all acts of sabotage, which it says not only result in the
02:05loss of primary containment, but also poses unacceptable risk to public safety, the environment and critical national energy infrastructure.
02:15Heritage says as a result, the company has amplified proactive, precautionary measures for increased monitoring and security of its hydrocarbon
02:27assets.
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