Probably at emergency
I refer to the article headlined, 'Over and . . . out of the office altogether' which appeared in Lai See on August 13.
It appears that Simon Pritchard had called the number 2815 0100 which is publicised by this department for reporting complaints in relation to floating rubbish.
It is likely that the staff were out attending to some emergency when Mr Pritchard called. This telephone number is not designed to be manned continuously and is publicised for recording floating rubbish-related complaints only.
The number to call for reporting oil pollution-related emergencies is 2858 2107. This number is manned round the clock at the Vessel Traffic Centre (VTC).
All key members involved in combating oil pollution are provided with pagers and/or mobile phones, and can be contacted by VTC at any time of the day or night. We are committed to dispatching the oil pollution combating team and required equipment to any spill site inside the port limits within two hours of notification. The VTC telephone number is listed in the Performance Pledge leaflet issued by the Marine Department.
S.K. ANAND General Manager Port Operations for Director of Marine
