Despite assurances that spraying would begin yesterday, millions of mosquitoes were seen buzzing in the stagnating salt marshes of Icacos, bringing work on the agricultural fields to a complete standstill. The mosquitoes settled like a thick black blanket on the fields.
At the St Quintin Estate, coconut worker Sandra Khan sat on a wooden bench outside her home, praying the Government authorities will fulfil its promises to spray the land. Fisherman Victor Lemessey said they had difficulty in getting their boats out to sea because of the cloud of mosquitoes. It was only yesterday that Works Minister Jack Warner announced spraying had started but there were no signs of that when news teams visited the area. Because Icacos is located under sea level, the entire peninsula is covered with pools of stagnant water, which breed millions of the deadly insects.
Caimans were seen swimming in the clogged rivers and millions of mosquito larvae wiggled in the semi-murky water. Fanning herself with a mosquito zapper, Khan said: "In the past they sprayed but one hour after they spray, the mosquitoes come back. What they need to do is to go to the source of the mosquitoes and kill them." Her son, Kishan, brought out a "smoke pan" to keep away the insects. Kishan said he made the pan using dry coconut copra soaked in diesel. Wet copra is then placed inside the pan to smother the fire, creating thick smoke. "This is much better than the zapper. This keeps away the mosquitoes better," Kishan said. President of the Granville Community Council Shankar Teeluchsingh said poor drainage was responsible for the problem.
He said the old landfill site at Limefield, Cedros, was blocked and this prevented the flow of water. At the Icacos point close to the St Quintin, Constance and Perseverance coconut estates, many of the water courses were choked. During a tour of the peninsula Warner said house-to-house spraying would begin this week in Cedros. He also said a team of engineers would visit the area and prepare a report to improve drainage and other infrastructure in the low-lying peninsula.
