People getting ill with fishy smell

Residents of Sea Lots, Port-of-Spain are literally “upset” about the stench they have had to endure over the past few months since the Barana Seafood Processors came into their community. Over the past four or five months, residents have shown their dissatisfaction in the form of protests, bearing placards and calling on the authorities to do something to ease their discomfort. The latest occurred on Wednesday when Port-of-Spain South MP Eric Williams attended an opening ceremony for a nursery school in the area adopted by none other than the same Barana Company which the residents are complaining about. The school is located a few metres away from the National Fisheries compound. The residents want to know how anyone could set up a school for young children with a stench like that.

During a visit to the area, Sunday Newsday was told that several parents are complaining that their children were suffering from asthmatic conditions. A check in the area revealed that the residents are justified in their complaints. When the taxi-driver approached the front of National Fisheries, we both found ourselves gagging with the full blast of the putrid stench. If I had to describe the odour I would say “the severe, fresh scent of rotting fish with a sour and acid edge and raw sewage combined.” “Now I understand what the fuss is about,” I sputtered, the taxi-driver shaking his head in agreement, not even able to respond right away. A resident for about 50 years Grace Radellant was eager to speak to Sunday Newsday. She was the same person who made the most “noise” on the opening day of the Sea Lots Nursery School. “The scent started about four or five months after Barana moved in here. We protested many times by blocking the road. We went to the Ministry of Environment, we spoke to our MP, but to date we still get problems with the stench and this thing smelling really bad,” she said. Radellant added: “Barana say they adopt the school but they are not doing anything to help the children because they are getting the stench first.”

The resident disclosed that a lot of the children have asthma, a complaint they never had before. She said she too has been experiencing a lot of coughing lately and cannot sleep well at night. “You have to put on the fan all day, all night, you have to buy spray and spray your house and lock up. Sometimes when you are eating and that stench hits you, your stomach upset, some people vomit, you have to leave your food and go,” said Radellant. In a statement Gary Aboud Secretary of the environmental group, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), called on Environment Minister Rennie Dumas to appoint a qualified task force to report to the nation on remedies and costs of regulating what he described as “deadly toxic burning” at the Beetham Garbage Dump and at the “equally nauseating Barana rotten fish recycling scheme.” He accused the Sewage and Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL) of neglecting and mismanaging the POS Dump.

Aboud provided a list of the likely “disastrous effects” of the stench, among them:
* Excessive chronic respiratory and other diseases of the area residents.
* Pollution of our Gulf of Paria and coastal waters by heavy metal toxic ooze.
* Air pollution and smog throughout Port-of-Spain and the environs.
* Pollution of the land as hazardous materials seep and the soil becomes saturated with them.
* A shameful Port of Call for cruise ships which are greeted with polluted waters and a nauseating stench.
Environment Minister, Rennie Dumas said he had no idea that the FFOS had made a call for the appointment of a Task Force. Staying clear from commenting on the issue, he said there was someone in his Ministry who was in charge of the matter and referred us to speak with him.
Corporate Communications Officer of the Environmental Management Authority, Neil Parsanlal told Sunday Newsday that the Authority was working together with Barana on the matter. He said the Company wants to know why Barana was being singled out since there are other companies which share the National Fisheries compound.