-stress need for urgent steps

A call has been made by two NGOs for the authorities to stop the blame game over the Princes Street dump and to take urgent steps to halt the “scandalous condition” of the facility which has affected hundreds for weeks.

Fires at the dump site which generated acrid smoke have since been put out but yesterday the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and the Guyana Citizens Initiative (GCI) restated their proposal for the immediate and long-term management of the site and called on the authorities to act.

A joint statement from the two labelled the authorities’ response to the dumpsite as “irresponsible”. It said that while the work of the fire service in extinguishing the surface fires and limiting the smoke brought some relief to residents they have now left the scene. “This is no answer to methane fire. The single excavator is turning over the heap of garbage, adding to the stench and pushing more and more rubbish closer to the street”.

They said that the authorities show no willingness to recognize the scale of the problem and it was only a matter of time before the fires and smoke start again.

The groups restated that the fire problem requires a trench to be dug around the affected area and filled with wet mud along with the sustained use of three pumps to thoroughly soak the dump. In the long term, the NGOs said that competent firms and personnel have to be hired within the context of a professional management agreement.

The groups said that it was disgraceful that instead of confronting the public health crisis caused by the noxious fumes the authorities seem bent on creating a diversion on the question of evacuation and in the process chose to “malign the caring and professional public health official who correctly advised the most vulnerable of the residents to leave the area”.

“While the authorities dither, the residents continue to suffer”, the release stated, adding that the two organizations have collaborated with residents in the distribution of 500 Everyday Precautions leaflets to households in the affected area as well as the St Sidwell’s Primary and Lodge Nursery school.

The precautions include:

* Wash hands with soap as regularly as possible.

* Avoid using your hands around the eyes, nose and mouth.

* Sleep under mosquito nets.   (The nylon net is a better barrier against dust particles.)

* Wash clothes and linen more frequently than normal.

* Ensure all water for drinking and cooking is covered.

* Ensure all food, both cooked and un-cooked, is covered.

* Ensure homes, yards and drains are clean to avoid rats, roaches, centipedes, mosquitoes and flies.

* Block air vents with pieces of wet cloth or damp newspapers.

* For residents having to walk through the smoke emanating from the dump to attend school, work or other activities, it is advisable to cover the nose with a damp cloth (wet rag) or use a mask.

* Until the relevant authority can arrange mobile clinics for residents of the affected area, it is advisable for persons manifesting bouts of dizziness, headaches, vomiting, persistent coughing, wheezing, ‘burn stomach’, ear, nose, throat, skin infections and general feelings of tiredness  visit their local clinic or the Georgetown Hospital.

* It is advisable that mothers with young babies, or young children, senior citizens and persons with allergies and respiratory illnesses seek alternative temporary accommodation when the dump is smoking or fumes can be detected.