Has the Oil Spill Problem Solved by BP? - By: J.J. Yong

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which was leased by the British Petroleum (BP), experienced a massive explosion and caused uncontrolled oil spill to the Gulf of Mexico on 20th April 2010. Being the responsible party of this unfortunate incident, BP has started taking a series of actions to fix the problems.

For the past six months, BP has established a few claim offices in some states. The purpose of setting up these offices is to assist the victims who are suffering from losses of income and damage of properties to regain financial strength. Now, there is a main concern here. Has BP solved the oil spill problem completely? Has everyone involved been compensated accordingly?

In my personal opinion, this incident is considered very serious and there are many unforeseen circumstances and consequences which BP has to handle slowly. Many issues can't be settled within a short period of time. BP has taken immediate actions to overcome the problems, i.e. they have successfully stopped the crude oil from spilling into the ocean and they have cleaned up the water. However, this is not the end of the story. I would say BP is still in the midst of settling the issues. There are many side effects which we can only see right now.

The tourism industry is affected most by this oil spill incident. Many people are not willing to come to Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and other coasts for holidays. They don't want to spend their money to come to these tourist spots which they find "unsafe". In their point of view, they don't dare to swim because there might be oil in the water and on the beaches. Furthermore, the tourists refuse to dine in the restaurants too.

There is only one question in their mind: "Why should I place myself at risk?" As a result, the business owners are suffering from huge losses and they don't know when the situation will be improved. BP has stated that the business owners can submit their claims on this matter as long as they can provide proof. However, how can these F&B owners prove their losses? It is impossible for them to get the clients to write in to inform that they feel unsafe to dine in the particular restaurants.

For those employees who have been retrenched by the tourist agents and restaurants, they are not allowed to claim from BP. They might be retrenched 3 months after the incident because the business owners wanted to cut down operating costs. These unfortunate employees are suffering from loss of income but they can't obtain financial assistance from any party.

Although hard effort has been taken by BP to solve the problems, not everyone can be taken care of. It is for sure that people living in the Gulf of Mexico will only be able to regain financial strengths after few years. They need to have great patience and determination to continue with their life.

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