The callous dumping of hospital waste near Red Village, on the Essequibo Coast is continuing, the AFC said yesterday, while announcing that it will write to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and other relevant bodies about the “disaster” in the making.
Nearly one year after the residents’ plight was highlighted in this newspaper, AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes told reporters yesterday that the party was appalled to see, when on a visit to the village, that the situation had not changed.
He said they saw syringes, needles, bloody gauze and human body parts on the heap dumped by the Suddie Hospital, a stone’s throw away from the village. What was even more frightening was when they learnt from villagers that children during play, pick up the syringes and chase each other.
“There was an open dumpsite in which there were all forms of medical waste, blood strewn gauze, bones, human bones and remains, syringes something that resembled post operative pregnancy body parts which the residents described as the afterbirth open to the public,” Hughes said.
“It is in a location, which is not fenced. It was not buried, it was not isolated and it was literally 60 metres away from Red Village. The dogs would go to the dumpsite and would pick up human remains and bring it back to the village… the children would pick up syringes and be threatening to bore each other, in some sort of game that they play,” he added.
Hughes explained that his party sees the action by the Suddie Hospital as a medical crisis given the many dangers it poses and as a result it will write to PAHO and other agencies highlighting the residents’ concerns. “This is a medical crisis. It is in total violation of the law. The Environmental Protection Act specifically prohibits
