Oil spill cleanup workers complain of unpaid wages

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The contractor in charge of the cleanup of the oil spill in Estancia town was accused of non-payment of the wages of its workers.

Estancia Mayor Rene Cordero said those who received their salaries also complained that they were only given partial payment.

Kuan Yu Global Technologies Inc. president Karl Ignatius Young denied the allegation, saying they pay all their workers.

He said around 500 local residents were hired for the oil spill cleanup but not everyone has reported for work.

Kuan Yu was hired to siphon, refloat and salvage National Power Corp. power barge that ran aground in Estancia at the height of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Meanwhile, thousands of evacuees from oil spill-hit village of Botongon in Estancia town have returned to their homes yesterday.

The Community Affairs and Public Information Division of the Iloilo provincial government said the Department of Health declared the area within the 150-meter radius of the damaged power barge safe.

“The evacuees staying at Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College-West Campus can now go home but those who have lost their houses due to the typhoon can still stay,” Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. said.