Rio Cobre pollution linked to sickness, business slump
Published:Friday | August 6, 2021 | 12:08 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
Residents in the Bog Walk Gorge have blamed the contamination of the Rio Cobre for anecdotal cases of ill health and the stench from a fish kill for a financial fallout for small businesses.
The unbearable smell coming from hundreds of pounds of dead fish believed to have been killed by a discharge of effluent into the river by Windalco has forced some bars, restaurants, and fruit vendors in Kent Village to shutter their operations.
Householders of Jew Pen are now complaining of stomach cramp, vomiting, and diarrhoea after consuming fish caught from the river on Monday. They said they had been unaware of the fish kill down river.
Denise, who operates a bar in Kent Village, told The Gleaner that she had to close her business since Tuesday because the odour had driven her customers away.
“I have to close down business because of the stench. Nobody wants to stop here. I have lost a lot of money. I also had to send my two children away because they were having breathing problems and couldn’t sleep,” she said.
Tamika Thompson, who also operates a small bar, said that she has been feeling nauseous after inhaling the odour from the dead fish.
Iradee Lawrence, a resident of Jew Pen, revealed that he purchased an 8lb eel from a fisherman on Monday and has been battling diarrhoea and stomach cramps after consuming it for dinner on Wednesday.
Lawrence said that he had been oblivious of the contamination of the river at the time of consumption.
“Mi belly nuh stop hurt mi and run. All cold sweat a wash mi,” said Lawrence, who appeared to be in discomfort when he spoke to The Gleaner.
Charmaine James, Lawrence’s neighbour, said she had also consumed fish from the river on Tuesday and fell sick.
“Mi feel mi belly a burn mi, and mi start to vomit, so mi tell him (Lawrence) how mi feel, and him sey him sick too, so we realised a di fish cause it,” she said.
A clean-up exercise got under way on Thursday, but not before the residents protested the compensation they claimed the bauxite company offered them. A deal was brokered after further negotiations.
Armed with rubber gloves, the clean-up crew collected scores of bags of dead fish that were floating downstream in the direction of Flat Bridge.
The National Environment and Planning Agency has blamed Windalco for the discharge and served an enforcement notice.
NEPA and Windalco are currently in court over a Rio Cobre fish kill in 2019.