Residents call on PM to stop smelter plans

RESIDENTS of Cap-de-ville and surrounding areas paid a visit to the Prime Minister’s White hall office yesterday, hoping to convince him to abandon plans to establish an aluminium smelter plant in the area. More than 40 residents made the trip from Cap-de-ville to Port-of-Spain, but were disappointed to hear that the PM was not in office. Special Advisor to the PM, Herbert Atwell, met with the residents and received documents including a letter to the PM requesting that the project be stopped and a consultation be held, a petition signed by more than 3,000 residents, and a fact- sheet on the dangers of building a smelter plant within close proximity to the populace.

In the letter, the residents called on the PM to respond to their request within 14 days or they would conclude that “you do not intend to assist us and we shall be at liberty to take whatever legal and/or public action necessary to protect our rights and those of future generations.” Executive member of the Cap-de-ville/ Chatham Environmental Protection Group, Sumintra Ramnarinesingh, said that group members were hoping to meet directly with the PM, to discuss the matter and to set a date for the community consultation with the residents of Cap-de-ville, Chatham, Cedros, Icacos and surrounding areas. She said they would also like to find out what plans were being put in place to protect residents from the health risks associated with a project of this kind.

Residents living within close proximity of a smelter plant can face miscarriages, higher birth defect rates, malformed bones, cancer, heart disease and artery problems, anaemia, irritability, rashes, diabetes, and high blood pressure, to name a few. The group also noted that Alcoa had warned its employees in an Associated Press article dated December 17, 1999, that “thousands of past and present employees may face a greater risk than previously believed of developing lung and bladder cancer,” noting that “symptoms take 15 - 20 years to manifest.” Ramnarinesingh noted that they are “genuinely concerned for their health and safety, considering the large number of health risks associated with a project of this type.”

They noted that the areas that they live in are “rich, forested areas with trees, plants and crops and this pristine area will be destroyed by the continuous toxic emissions from the aluminium smelter plant to the atmosphere.” They noted that the smelter plant would produce tonnes of gaseous waste per year, which would contain fluorides, cyanide, and other toxic elements and these combination of gases would permanently affect the drinking water, sea and the flora and fauna in the surrounding areas. Based on these hazards, the organisation is calling on the Government to suspend all action to establish the smelter plant in the area, and for immediate consultation with residents on the project.