[Nov. 26 ] A tug boat belonging to Samsung C & T hit a broken caisson / Villagers’ statement on Samsung C & T

[아름드리 나무]

http://savejejunow.org/a-tug-boat-belonging-to-samsung-c-t-hit-a-broken-caisson/

Photo by Jeju Sori, Nov. 26, 2012/ A tug boat in the red circle submerged.

1.  A tug boat belonging to Samsung C & T hit a broken caisson and submerged during the night construction, spreading gasoline oil on the sea

In the early morning of Monday, Nov. 26, the news on the illegal night time naval base construction on the sea rang the media.

A 45 ton tug boat belonging to the Samsung C & T submerged beginning with its bow  around 12:10 am on Nov. 26 in the Gangjeong Sea where the navy-contracted companies are working for building the naval base. The sea wave and wind were strong during that night. And the accident site was about 100 meter distant from the coast of construction area.

Photo by Jeju Sori, Nov. 26, 2012

It was later confirmed that the tug boat hit a 8,800 ton caisson (a concrete structure of 20.4m height and about 8 stories apartment building size) in the sea, which has been one of seven caissons that have been broken and damaged  by the typhoon Bolaven at the end of this August and abandoned in the sea since then . The tug boat was to return back to Hwasoon port ( *40 minutes car distance from the village) after the caisson floating dock’s makeshift stationing of another 8,800 ton caisson

It is weird that the company contacted the Seogwipo Coast guard after seven hours of incident.

In the tug boat, there were 7 crews including captain. All those were rescued thanks to a dredging barge nearby. But the coast guard could not rescue the boat as of 9am.Nov. 27.

Photo by Jeju Sori, Nov. 26, 2012

The Seogwipo Guard mobilized security and express ship on the sea. It was known that about 10,000 liter of gasoline had been loaded on the boat. Despite prevention work for any oil leak, oli was leaked to the worry of environmental contamination.

A peace activist, Jo Yak Gol writes:

The navy and Samsung were in emergent to brought kitchen cleaning material of 800 liter (about 60 bottles of 13 liter) to remove oil leaked in the Joongdeok Sea, Gangjeong village. It means they would pour  such chemical material into the Gangjeong Sea. [..]

Seven caissons of which total production costs are 35 billion won and which have been abandoned in the sea four months ago by the typhoons greatly threaten maritime safety, being like reefs in the sea. Still the navy does not take any measure on those.

The Gangjeong fishermen are angry, saying it is too dangerous for them to navigate fishing ship during the night since the navy has not equipped any proper safety facilities in the naval base construction. The fishermen says they were also at the risk of accidents many times. They say the navy keeps silent even though they protest to the navy on it. The navy-contracted workers themselves know it is too dangerous for them to navigate ships here so they cannot even retort back to Gangjeong fishers’ protest.

The navy and Samsung’s reckless enforcement of construction has eventually bought another accident[..]

The Gangjeong Sea located in the corner of  typhoon is improper for naval base because of powerful current of water and wind even in the routine time. Further the Government made a base design for US nuclear aircraft carrier, [nuclear submarines], and Aegis Destroyer. The Office of Prime Minister has even lied and manipulated a mere reference (*made by the Ministry of National defense) [as if it is the technical verification committee’s official report ] for cruise  to forcibly fit into the base design even though it never fits to it.

According to the testimonies by the workers, the caisson have been unreliably built short of standard and cannot properly function. Won’t the caissons be trashed when they are buried as those unreliable are roughly stationed in the strong sea wave and wind, according to false layout?

Reckless construction (destruction) even during dangerous nights has brought such incident. Is it weird that we have heard some crews were sick the other day but they were secretly cared for by visiting doctor and nurses to the barge? And how about the maritime environmental destruction? The rushing construction(destruction) is bringing such human and nature disasters. Cut all the budgets for the Jeju naval base project!

Please remind:

The Samsung C & T has been accused to the Prosecutor Office for its illegal operation on floating dock without inspection in the beginning of this year.

The Samsung C & T floating dock has hit three fishing ships of which two ships became to submerge and one ship sunk down on March 11, 2012 when it was to moor in the outer port of the Hwasoon port.

Reference :

http://www.jejusori.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=122988
[속보] 삼성물산 예인선 제주해군기지서 침수
2012.11.26 08:45:54

http://www.jejusori.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=123008

삼성물산 예인선, 8천톤급 케이슨과 ‘충돌’ 침수

2012.11.26 11:50:17

http://www.headlinejeju.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=165737
제주해군기지 공사현장 예인선 침수…선원 7명 구조
해경, 경비함정 7대 투입 배수작업 전개
012.11.26 09:10:52

http://www.headlinejeju.co.kr/news/articlePhotoView.html?idxno=165780

제주해군기지 공사현장 예인선 침수원인 “케이슨과 충돌”

바지선에 연결해 침몰 막아…기름유출 우려

http://www.mediajeju.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=137051

해군기지 예인선 침수 원인은 케이슨과 충돌

2012.11.26 12:56:14

2. Meanwhile, the villagers made a statement on the Samsung C & T’s demand on the amount of loss for the delay of construction. Here is a statement(translated)

Regrading the Samsung C & T’s demand on the amount of loss for the delay of construction

It has been known through media that the Samsung C & T demanded 23 billion won for the loss and additional cost by the construction delay of the Jeju naval base (so called Civilian-Military Complex Harbor for Tour Beauty), while Daelim, another main-contract company of the naval base project is told to plan to demand on the loss, too. And it is informed that the Samsung C & T reported that the delay of construction occurred because of activities by opposition groups.

To say in a word, it is like ‘the thief turns on the master with a club.’ The Samsung C & T got the order on the maritime construction of the outer facilities such as breakwater, becoming in charge for the 1st construction work area. If there was any  people’s activity of obstruction on construction, it was to point out on the uninstalled silt protectors, the measure on the reduction of floating materials, following the Environmental Impact Assessment. People were just stopping illegal construction since [the Samsung C & T] has enforced construction (destruction) even without proper installation of  immobile silt protectors among the double-layered silt protectors.

If the Samsung C & T had proceeded construction with proper installation of silt protectors from the beginning and still there were activities of obstruction of construction, the Samsung C & T is right to assert its claim. However, its construction delay happened because it has been disclosed of its illegal constructions (destruction) so has gotten correction orders many times from the Jeju Island. The construction delay was more caused from the maritime condition that has not been ready due to strong wind such as typhoon.

If it is a construction delay happened due to natural condition, it is righteous that a service order agency that has miscalculated the days of impossible construction for natural condition takes responsibility for it. If construction delay occurred because illegal construction was driven and disclosed, it is righteous that applicable company is punished, rather than the company says so and so on the compensation on the amount of loss. Therefore if the Navy Headquarter or Ministry of National Defense demands a right to indemnity against local residents, the world will laugh on it.

Even though the construction might have been delayed because local residents repulsed back against construction, the state should naturally compensate for the construction delay. It is because the state has the responsibility for smooth construction with its [responsibility] of persuading local residents in its driving for a national policy. Further it is a [so called] security project in the words of the Government. The Government should be responsible for all the loss and legal disadvantage that have occurred, being awakened that the project has become rather destroying security, not only destroying a local community but even dividing citizens’ opinions on it.

Gangjeong Village Association

Nov. 26, 2012

……………………………….

Reference

http://www.headlinejeju.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=165795

“해군기지 공사지연 손실금 구상권?…천하가 웃을 일”

강정마을회, 공사지연 손실금 청구 입장표명

2012.11.26 15:21:03

3. Otherwise there was an event called, Consolidate Solidarity for No Jeju Naval Base Campaign and Asia-Pacific Peace Movement

Source: PSPD. Click HERE

PSPD, Cafe Tongin (1F)/ PM08:00 Nov. 26 (Mon), 2012

Sponsored by the People’s Solidarity for participatory Democracy

The Story tellers who were invited were: Dr. Song Kang-Ho, Fr. Mun Jun-Hyun, Kang Dong Kyun, (Gagjoeng village mayor), Joseph Gerson (US), Liu Yintuo (China), Corazon Fabros (Philippines), and Kawasaki Akira (Japan)

For more on it, click HERE

(Post by Fielding Hong)

4. 24 hour construction and 24 hour protest are continued 

Photo by Jang Hyun-Woo/ Barricades to block the cement trucks. For more photos on 24 hour protest by Jang Hyun-Woo, click, here and here (Post by Regina Pyon)

Photo by Jang Hyun-Woo/ 100 bows in the morning. For more photos on 24 hour protest by Jang Hyun-Woo, click, here and here (Post by Regina Pyon)

Video by Jo Yak Gol (Source: Click here/ post by Regina Pyon)

Video by Ki Gami/ 11pm, Nov. 27 (Source: Click here)