§ Mr. Charles WardleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what response he has made to the recent request by the Government of Bahrain for equipment to help combat oil pollution.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry), is visiting Bahrain on 9 March for discussions with the Government of Bahrain and to see at first hand the counter-pollution preparations for dealing with the Gulf oil spills. I will be presenting a first consignment of three oil recovery skimmers which the United Kingdom is making available to the Government of Bahrain. We expect a further consignment of three skimmers will be airlifted to Bahrain shortly. The cost of these operations is estimated at £300,000 and a new subhead is being created on class VIII, vote 5 to enable the provision of oil recovery equipment to Bahrain.