Tens of thousands of people have protested in Mauritius over the government’s slow response to an oil spill and the discovery of several dead dolphins.
The captain of the ship that had crashed into a coral reef and caused a massive oil spill has been sentenced to 20 months of jail.
According to magistrate Ida Dookhy Rambarrun, "The court took into consideration the fact that both defendants pleaded guilty and apologised. The sentence handed down is 20 months in prison."
She found captain Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar and first officer Hitihanillage Subhoda Janendra Tilakaratna guilty of "endangering safe navigation."
Thousands march in Mauritius over dead dolphins, oil spill
By CARA ANNAAugust 29, 2020 GMT
JOHANNESBURG (AP) Honking and drumming, tens of thousands of people protested Saturday in Mauritius over the government’s slow response to an oil spill from a grounded Japanese ship and the alarming discovery of dozens of dead dolphins in recent days.
Outraged over the Indian Ocean island nation’s worst environmental disaster in years, protesters displayed signs such as “You have no shame” and “I’ve seen better Cabinets at IKEA.” “Inaction,” one protester scrawled on an inflatable dolphin held above the crowd.
They marched peacefully through the capital, Port Louis, a month after the ship struck a coral reef a mile offshore. It later cracked under the pounding surf and spilled around 1,000 tons of fuel oil into fragile marine areas.