Fumes from an oil spill in Santa Flora on Tuesday are causing residents, including children, to fall sick and they are demanding that the Heritage Petroleum Company Ltd address their concerns.
The residents claimed yesterday that they had no communication with the company and in a bout of frustration, they ventured out of their homes demanding answers from company employees conducting clean-up operations at the site.
According to a release from the Heritage on Wednesday, the seepage at the corner of Arapito Trace and Well Road was minor but residents complained that it’s a health and safety hazard.
They complained of shortness of breath, headaches and nausea. The residents said their animals were also affected and their crops destroyed.
Although they have not received any official instructions from the company, residents have not been using their gas stoves or lighting any flames because they are fearful it could spark a fire.
Resident Randy Ramjit, who lives next to the open land where the oil spill occurred, said around 10.30 am he got a high scent of hydrocarbon and saw a small pocket of oil.
Ramjit said it was raining and half an hour later, he realised that the entire area, including the back of his house, was covered in oil.
He said the oil also flowed into other residents’ properties.
Ramjit contacted Heritage and a team was dispatched about 15 minutes later.
Tyrique Ramjit shows the oil behind his home in Agapito and Well Roads in Santa Flora, yesterday.
RISHI RAGOONATH
However, the resident was not satisfied with the quality of the clean-up operations being carried out.
“The clean-up that Heritage is stating they are doing is simply to spread sand over the affected area and cover it up to avoid a public scandal. In the meantime, this has become a health and safety issue for the residents in the area and there has been no one from Heritage Petroleum reaching out to the public to find out what is their concern and how they are being affected,” he complained. Ramjit said the health of his wife and children was also being affected. He recalled that around 3.30 am on Wednesday, his wife started having difficulty breathing and was taken to Siparia Health Facility.
“She had to undergo medical treatment for the inhalation for extreme toxic fumes that we have been experiencing here since the spill. My four children, they are complaining of constant headaches and feeling nauseous. I have nowhere to go, I have to stay here, so I am in the firing line of this issue,” he lamented.
Ramjit is also concerned about the health of his pet dogs. He estimated that aside from him, some 50 to 100 residents are affected.
“We are pleading, we are begging. We are asking Heritage Petroleum to come and do their due diligence and first seek the interest of the residents in the area.”
Resident Agnes Daniel, 66, said the oil flowed into the back of her yard where she has her chicken pen. She asked her son to put her chickens in the coop because they were walking in the oil.
Jeewan Ramjit, who grows and sells crops for a living, said he suffered losses.
“Even self they cover up the place there, the oil will still be in the land, which means now you can’t plant nothing there for a good few years,” he lamented.
He plants citrus, dasheen, pommecythere, plum, breadfruit, mango and other crops.
Contacted yesterday, Heritage referred Guardian Media to its release on Wednesday. In that statement, it said it was engaged in responding to two separate incidents at Agapito Trace, Santa Flora and along the right of way of the Heritage Trunk Pipelines at Inverene Road, Cocoyea. It said both incidents involved minor seepage from nearby facilities but its Emergency/Oil Spill Response Protocols were activated. Heritage also assured cleanup operations and containment were ongoing and personnel had contacted affected residents.
