By Francine Black, Staff ReporterAUTHORITIES IN hurricane-ravaged Clarendon are urging health personnel to tackle health concerns in the parish as an outbreak of disease is likely if swift action is not taken.
Eurica Douglas, regional director for the Social Development Commission (SDC), said its assessment to date had uncovered several health concerns.
"In upper Clarendon, the risk of contamination of water sources is very high as waste from pit latrines could seep into the springs and wells," Ms. Douglas said yesterday at a Gleaner Editors' Forum.
Aldo Brown, president of the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce, expressed concern about the improper disposal of large numbers of dead animals in the parish. "We are not certain that scores of dead chickens are being disposed of properly," Mr. Brown said.
He added that as a result, the Chamber would ensure that proper disposal standards are adhered to. Mr. Brown is also appealing to chicken factories to assist with the disposal process as some of the residents do not have sufficient land space to do proper burial.
DUMPING DEAD CHICKENS
It was pointed out that currently persons were dumping dead chickens into the Moore's River and this could have a severe impact on health as the same river was being used for domestic purposes.
Ms. Douglas told the forum at the Lionel Town Police Station that some residents in the upper Clarendon region were not treating the water procured from the springs, rivers and wells.
This, she said, was creating a situation for diarrhoea, gastro-enteritis, fever and influenza to develop.
In an appeal, Ruddy Spencer, Member of Parliament for Clarendon South East, who also attended the forum, called for urgent attention to be paid to the mosquito situation in the parish. "I am calling upon authorities to fog and spray water as a matter of urgency," he said.
In the meantime, calls for help have not fallen on deaf ears as the National Water Commission (NWC) has installed a generator at the Kemps Hill pumping station thus allowing some amount of water to reach some communities in southern Clarendon. There are also plans to divert trucks to communities which are still without water.
