Feathers container to be opened

However, port employees of the Container Examination Station (CES) are reportedly determined to stay off the job when the container is opened, which is likely to be before the end of the week.

The opening of the container has been deemed "not risky" by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Confirmation that the container will be fumigated and opened came from both Gregory Aboud, who imported the feathers, and Dr Stephen Johnston, director of the Animal Production and Health Department of the Agriculture Ministry.

Some port employees told Newsday yesterday they were concerned about the matter, saying that if the feathers were being returned as a precautionary measure, then the container should not be opened. They felt the action would be risky, and threatened to stay away from the job when the container is opened.

Aboud told Newsday yesterday that permission had been granted by the ministry to fumigate and open the container to take out other goods, namely fabric, which is stock for his store, Jimmy Aboud’s.

He said, "The feathers are not flying around. They are sealed in plastic and the Ministry of Agriculture has indicated that the container can be fumigated with gas and opened after 24 hours. The feathers will then be returned."

He said the container will probably be fumigated today at the port, under the supervision of ministry and customs officials. A pest control company has been contracted to do the fumigation.

Aboud said the law of Trinidad and Tobago gives the authority the right to return the feathers, and "we accept that."

He added that when fumigated, no organisms which may be present in the container will survive.

He stressed that the feathers were being returned as an extra-precaution, as no one could ascertain if they were contaminated with the H5N1 strain of Influenza A virus.

"There can’t be after all this time a fear of that." Aboud noted that the virus was transmitted by animals and the feathers were put through a process — bleached and dyed.

Dr Johnston told Newsday, "there is no risk of introducing the disease on the other contents of the container when it is fumigated."

He also stressed there was no certainty that the feathers came into contact with contaminated sources of the bird flu virus, and it was being returned as a precaution.

He said the feathers would have been stored in the container in cartons and sealed bags.

Permission to fumigate and open the container would have been granted by the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO), Dr Joseph Ryan, who was unavailable for comment.

Acting Agriculture Minister, John Rahael, was unaware of the development to open the container, but told Newsday that permission to open the container was a matter for the CVO and customs.

The feathers were imported for Carnival and arrived a few days ago. The decision to return the feathers was made by Rahael after consultation with officials from the Agriculture Ministry.