NEW YORK (United Nations)- Kuwait news agency KUNA reported on Saturday that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his report to the Assembly on Thursday, declared that there is no progress in the cleaning of the Lebanese coast from the oil spill following the Israeli bombing of Jiyeh power plant during the 2006 war because of Israel’s refusal to pay compensation to Lebanon. He urged at the same time the international community to bring a swift response to the incident, mainly Kuwait, which topped the list of rescuers, in providing technical assistance and equipment.

The marine oil spill resulted in the release of about 15,000 tons of fuel oil in the Mediterranean Sea, leading to the contamination of 150 km of coastline in Lebanon, extending to Syria. The General Assembly had urged Israel to “assume responsibility for prompt and adequate compensation” to Lebanon and other countries for the cost of repairing the environmental damage caused by the bombing. “The Government of Israel has yet to assume its responsibility”, Ban said. He recalled that the UN Environment Program (UNEP) sent a letter to the Israeli Government in August 2007 and another one last June. “No response has been received to either of those communications. In the absence of an official response from Israel, it is difficult to report on progress,” Ban added. He also recalled that the Assembly called for the mobilization of international technical and financial assistance through donor support for the creation of an eastern Mediterranean oil spill restoration fund based on voluntary contributions to support the cleanup and safe disposal of oily waste. “So far no progress has been made towards the creation of the fund, possibly owing to the fact that no practical or operational mechanism has been identified and put forward,” Ban said.

The UN Secretary-General called on the international donor community to continue to support Lebanon in this matter, since Lebanon is still engaged in oil removal, waste treatment and recovery monitoring. He argued that the oil spill is not covered by any of the international oil-spill compensation funds and thus “merits special consideration”.