Prisoners enlisted in oil clean-up

Prisoners in the Philippines are having their heads shaved to help clean up the country's worst oil spill.



The Philippine Coast Guard has appealed for chicken feathers and human hair to help sponge up the 200,000 litre spill.

The oil spill occurred on August 11 when the oil tanker MT Solar 1, carrying 2 million litres of bunker fuel, sank off Guimaras Island, 495 kilometres south of Manila, during bad weather.

Australia and France have pledged to help in the clean-up. "Coast guard officials from the United States and Japan are already here, " President Arroyo said.