Bitter water

One wonders what would have happened to us were there no scheduled meeting of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Enterprises Committee.

No doubt, continuing to drink bitter water.

What was revealed by the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) was at best nonchalance and at worst criminal. Independent Senator David Small branded the state of affairs “an ecological disaster and national emergency.” Caroni East MP Tim Gopeesingh, a medical doctor, after discussing the ill-effects of lead on the human body, saw the situation as “alarming.” On hearing about the number of related documents and position papers that SWMCOL had presented to its line ministry, Jennifer Baptiste- Primus, Minister of Labour, said SWMCOL should have alerted its ministry to the hazard by a special report, not by mere documents.

We concur, but all of this is now water under the bridge. The relevant authorities and agencies within the ambit of the Ministry of Public Utilities and other arms of government must be mobilised immediately to come up with an action plan — the emphasis on action — to deal with this situation post-haste. It is too dangerous an episode to be played out against bureaucracy, or delayed by the politicking that usually attends these matters. This is not FATCA.

Minister of Finance Colm Imbert would have been seriously wanting, even irresponsible, in allocating only $1 million to tackle this dangerous water issue had he been properly briefed.

He would be among the first — in justifying the spend on providing safe water nationally — to undertake the type of analysis of fellow engineer Casey Dinges, senior managing director of the American Society of Professional Engineers, in his warning to the US on the need to ramp up expenditure on providing safe water: “If we don’t increase investment in these areas, we’re putting at risk by the year 2020 over $400 billion in US GDP, 700,000 jobs would be endangered, and over half a trillion dollars in personal income would be at risk.” What is the analysis for Trinidad and Tobago if we do not invest adequately for “protecting, treating and distributing drinking water as a public health issue?” What is most disheartening is that we have been running down this very sordid environmental road for so many years. How many times, for instance, have we been blanketed with virtual polluted smog from the Beetham and the Guanapo landfills, taking for granted that the clearing up after a few days was enough? But consider the Guanapo landfill.

Unlike modern landfills it was set up without first covering the ground with an impervious lining to prevent toxic chemicals from seeping into the subsoil and eventually making their way into water courses as run-off. lt was also in nearby Wallerfield in 1993 that residents of an entire village were found to have high levels of lead in their bloodstream following dumping of used batteries and lead slag in their neighbourhood. People still reside in the area having ignored appeals to relocate.

We have been aware of all of these along with local and international examples over the years, yet we indulge in knee-jerk reaction to passing outrage, no contemplation of serious analysis, and lethargy in implementing any corrective measures.

On being apprised of the water situation at the parliamentary committee meeting on Wednesday, Minister Baptiste-Primus suggested that lead in our water is a matter of national concern and should be in a special report to Cabinet. Again we concur, but we wait to see whether she will spur such action and whether there will be nonchalance, irresponsibility, politicking, and even lethargy on this one