In our edition last Friday we carried an article on a picketing exercise by Cane Grove residents outside the Ministry of Health to highlight their plight with respect to the health hazard the operation of a rice mill is causing.
Health-related problems they suffer include breathing complications, scalp and skin rashes, eye diseases-particularly among children, dust in their clothing which causes itching, as well as in their food and drinking water.  The water conservancy which runs through the village is, for the most part, covered with effluent from the paddy.
The residents who are claiming that for over 10 years they have been suffering a major health and environmental problem caused by the operation of a rice mill within their residential community, yesterday mounted a picketing exercise on Brickdam, outside the Ministry of Health, pressing demands for the closure of the mill. In the absence of that, the least they would like to see happen is for changes to be made in relation to having equipment installed at the mill which would effectively stop the environmental pollution.
If what the Cane Grove residents say is true, then it is a serious situation because no one has the right to compromise people’s health and what is even of greater concern is the fact that this problem has been  there for more than a decade. So it begs the question as to why the relevant authorities have not addressed the problem. Some agency or agencies need to provide some answers.
To begin,  what has the Regional Health and Environmental Officer been doing about the matter? It would seem that he/she is doing nothing and therefore the residents decided to come to highlight the issue at the Ministry of Health. But it seems as if the ministry also is uninterested because reportedly, none of its officials went out to speak with the picketing residents.
What is also strange is that no other than President Bharrat Jagdeo, during a visit to the community in 2002 had discussions with both management and the residents of the community, and advised the owners of the rice-milling concern to take corrective action.  However, to date, the problem persists, and instead of acting on instructions given by the president, management is now moving to expand operations, without due regard to the health and safety of the hundreds of residents in the community.
The residents claim also that the owner of the factory never got permission from the Local Authority nor the EPA and despite this,is now planning to expand operations. So one must ask how is it this factory was allowed  into operation unhindered. If the relevant authorities did not grant permission and the owner still went ahead with the operation of the factory, then it is their responsibility and duty  to halt the operations. It boggles the mind why this has not been done.
The residents are contending that enough is enough, since despite representation made at varying levels to have the matter resolved the mill continues to function in the same old way.  By his continued operations, they claim, the miller continues to show callousness and gross disregard for the residents whose health and lives are at stake.   They have vowed to have the matter taken to Parliament, and if need be, to the courts.
One could understand the frustration and concerns of the residents because the health of people is a serious matter and must not be treated  lightly.
Therefore, all the agencies concerned should move swiftly to have this matter resolved because the health of the affected residents is at grave risk.