Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter
HEALTH AND local government officials are concerned that the public could be in danger of being seriously injured or killed as well as becoming susceptible to dangerous illnesses just from visiting every day places.
And in a rather chilling admission, they acknowledged that , in many cases, there was very little they could do about the situation.
Speaking at a Gleaner Editors ' Forum yesterday, these officials called for increased resources and public interest as well as more lawsuits to force persons to comply with safety and health regulations.
They are also advocating a "zero tolerance approach" to tackling public health, environmental and building code violations.
"The prisons are a gateway to infectious diseases," said Mayor of Spanish Town, Dr. Raymoth Notice, adding that the public runs the risk of being exposed to medical mistakes from budget restraints and overworked doctors and that persons have been known to pick up infections in hospitals. But Dr. Herb Elliott, medical officer of health for Kingston and St. Andrew said hospital infections seldomly occur.
Professor Ishenkumba Kahwa, of the chemistry department, at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and Dr. Elliot said people were living on old sites for hazardous waste such as asbestos and lead. In addition, they were allowed to do activities which exposed them to the dangerous substances.
Dr. Elliott said there already have been consequences. Six children from Papine were hospitalised recently from lead poisoning caused by activities in a battery yard in Papine. He said the children were treated and sent to a place of safety but that they may have to return to the environment where residents refuse to move from the area and public health authorities did not have the power to remove them. Other officials said public buildings need to be properly designed because they have no sanitary facilities, no food safety practices, poor sewage, no disaster plans, no fire escapes or smoke detectors, poor ventilation and limited safety and maintenance checks.
"Public places are dangerous because we don't have a culture of prevention. We are often reactive...from the policy level to the man in the street... (But) we can't continue to depend on luck, " said Dr. Barbara Carby, director general, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM ).
