Lindeners took to the streets of Mackenzie and Wismar yesterday, calling on leaders of the town and the government to intervene into the dust being emitted by the Bosai Minerals Group (Guyana).
A groups of residents walked from Poker Street, Wismar to the main thoroughfare of Mackenzie, making stops at the Linden Hospital Complex, Bosai’s North gate entrance, the Regional Democratic Council office and the Linden Mayor and Town Council. They carried placards that highlighted their concerns: “Stop the dust urgently it affecting we,” “Jagdeo Do Something,” “Ramsammy Do Something NOW,” “Mingo Do something,” “Does the government support environmental science? No!”
Speaking with Stabroek News, protester Charles Sampson said the dust situation has gotten worse since the takeover by Bosai. According to him, the main aim of the protest is to get the ‘powers that be’ to meet residents of Linden to address the situation and give a definite time frame when it would be corrected. “If they can’t give us something positive we’ll be on the road all the time,” he said.
The dust emitted from the bauxite kilns and the ship loaders is affecting residents from as far as Wisroc to Amelia’s Ward. “What the dust is doing now it never used to do before so people are becoming more aware of the dangers of the dust,” a protestor said.
In a recent interview, Bosai’s Personnel and Industrial Relation superintendent Peter Benny had said that the company was working feverishly to fix the problem.
He said several meetings were held with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to discuss Bosai’s Plans to install a dust collector.
A team of consultants from Luoyang Institute of Refractories Research (LIRR) — a wholly owned subsidiary of China Iron & Steel Industry & Trade Group Corporation, which has passed the ISO900 international quality system certification — has been contracted to work on the design of the dust collectors for kiln 13 and kiln 14.
They are expected in Linden soon, when the actual design of the dust collector will be discussed having already at their disposal the several studies and tests undertaken in June by Acre Coking & Refractory Engineering Consulting Corporation in China.
To aid in alleviating dust emissions released from kiln 10, Bosai plans to utilize a dust suppression system proposed by GE Infrastructure Water and Process Technologies (a division of General Electric Specialty Materials that has a broad array of technical expertise and sophisticated research facilities dedicated to dust control technology with a leading position in the specialty chemical industry). This dust suppression system is expected to provide short-term and long-term dust control, reduce dust losses and improve air quality. It has been tested and approved by Alcoa and is currently been used by Alcoa in its Western Australia operations. It has also been used by Aroaima Mining Company.
The material for the dust suppression system has already been ordered and is expected to be in Guyana in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, residents are forced to put up with the dust invading their homes, work places, schools and even the hospitals. Owners of vehicles say the dust is causing serious problem by clogging several compartments, especially windows.
It also poses a serious health risk with hundreds developing respiratory problems.
Those who feel the effects of the dust most are residents and businesses in Silver Town, Canvas City, One and Half Miles, the Alleys, Victory Valley at Wismar and at Mackenzie, Watooka, Central Mackenzie, Retrieve, Fair’s Rust and Noitgedacht.
Residents plan to continue their protest until they are satisfied that all the relevant authorities are making valiant efforts to have the situation corrected in the earliest possible time.
