A Call To Save The Perseverance Area From Environmental Pollution

Grenadians living around the Perseverance Area are calling on the local authorities to urgently put out the landfill fires suffocating them and making their lives miserable. The air pollution caused by the fires is a source of reduced air quality for the residents and animals in the area. No one, no family should be living in such unbearable conditions! Landfill fires pose a threat to the environment and all that are exposed to its toxins. This is a health and environmental emergency. The local authorities should treat it as such and deal with the matter urgently. Individuals living with respiratory conditions will be adversely affected by the low quality of air for as long as the fires continue to burn.  

Landfills are a source of multiple health hazards because they habour different kinds of wastes. Complex chemical and microbiological reactions within landfills often lead to the formation of several gaseous pollutants such as dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals and particulate matter. The continuous inhalation of these gaseous pollutants causes major health issues such as loss of coordination, nausea, and vomiting. Inhalation can also cause symptoms such as nose and throat irritations, bronchoconstriction and respiratory infections and even erectile dysfunction. These pollutants can make life unbearable for asthmatic patients and can ultimately lead to death. 

In light of the multiple health hazards posed by landfills fires, one wonders  why the local authorities would allow its citizens to be exposed to such inhumane environmental conditions? We find the advice provided by the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority to be totally unacceptable! How could a caring institution believe that advising its citizens to close their windows and cover their noses is a wise solution?  People know that, but they are expecting better  advice from the authorities  in-charge. Perhaps the Solid Waste Management Authority is not equipped to respond to this emergency. I believe it is an issue for the Ministry of Health. The Ministry should intervene or lives will be lost. People expect urgent action. They want it now! 

We call on the government to immediately mobilize the Ministry of Health and the Solid and Waste Management Authority to work together to find immediate and long term solutions to this challenge. Asking people to close their windows and cover their noses is as ridiculous as it is laughable. We also call on all Grenadians to hold their local authorities accountable! Grenadians know that their government ought to know and do better!