Massive dumping in Port Kaituma River fuels outbreak fears among residents

By Stabroek News On In Guyana News |
This is the state of the Port Kaituma River. Hundreds of persons living further up the river utilise the river water for cooking, cleaning, drinking and personal use. It is feared that the dumping of garbage in the river can cause a health crisis.
This is the state of the Port Kaituma River. Hundreds of persons living further up the river utilise the river water for cooking, cleaning, drinking and personal use. It is feared that the dumping of garbage in the river can cause a health crisis.

As large amounts of garbage continue to be dumped into the Port Kaituma River, residents are fearful that a new outbreak of water borne infections and diseases is looming unless the situation is addressed quickly.

On Monday, during a clean-up initiative organized by the Church on the Rock Assembly of God Church, parishoners collected 730 jumbo-sized bags filled with garbage.

“We were very surprised at the amount of garbage,” Overseer of the church Coleen Riddle told Stabroek News, while noting that they found plastic, rotting chicken and chicken skin, plastic bottles and human waste.

Riddle noted that the church had organised other clean-ups and this time around targeted the river because