Members of the Layou Improvement Committee (LIC) have raised concerns over statements by the Minister of Environment Kenneth Darroux, accusing them of not showing up for a meeting to discuss the operations of an Asphalt Plant in Layou.
The Committee claimed that the Government did not consult with the Layou community before granting Jacques Garddakhan of West Indies Aggregate temporary permission to set an asphalt plant in that area.
Darroux, who spoke at a press conference at the Ministry of Finance conference room Wednesday, said that the Government had in fact engaged the people of Layou on many occasions on the matter. In addition, the LIC was invited to meet with officials from the ministry, including Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit to discuss the matter and several of them canceled.
Unsuccessful meetings
But Chairman of that Committee Lazar Charles told Dominica News Online that this was not the case.
He explained that the meeting was scheduled to take place in Layou at 6 p.m. on Monday, but a few hours before, government indicated via telephone that they were unable to travel to Layou and members of the Committee should instead come to Roseau at 4 p.m.
“I told the health minister that I would try to rally the rest of the committee members, but only three were able to make the change. The Committee comprises of about 10 persons and I didn’t think it was fair to have only three persons attend. I find that was a bit of a short time,” he said.
According to Charles, the health minister told him he would meet with the LIC on Wednesday, but he never showed up.
Charles frowned upon Darroux for making the public think the LIC had no interest in the matter.
Last year November, Layou residents protested by blocking the main road with derelict vehicles, a canoe, rope and trees, because they said that the asphalt plant which Gaddarkhan had began setting up, posed a health threat to their community.
The Government had assured the community that Planning Division had placed a stop order on Gaddarkhan’s plan. However, a few months ago he was given a two-year contract for the construction of the plant to assist with Government projects.
Meantime Charles said while the people of Layou want to protest again, he advised them to “play it cool,” until the Committee meets with government.
Void concerns
He said an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was done and dismissed all concerns they have expressed, adding “the EIA has ruled favourably that all the concerns that the Layou people have expressed they [are] really void.”
According to him, the summary showed that the only thing that could be pose as a problem is the ordour from the plant.
Darroux said that the Government recognises that if any new industry is going to be set up in any area there will be multiple health and environmental concerns, but all of these were addressed in the EIA.
He informed that a condition stipulated in Gaddarkhan’s temporary contract instruct him to setup measures to address the odour, and if this is not resolved further measures will be put in place.
The minister added that a committee which will involve residents of Layou and the Government will be set up to monitor the operations of the plant on a monthly basis.
“What I want to point out especially to the Layou people is that a very important condition that was stipulated in the temporary position was that a monitoring committee be set up to have monthly visits to the plant where any sign of hanky-panky going on there of course would be detected,” the minister said.
He reassured the layout residents that any sign of non-compliance to these conditions will be seriously dealt with.
“ The prime minister is gonna be part of the committee and we have also given the Layou people the opportunity for the actual Layou residents to be part of this committee. So honestly if this isn’t transparency and democracy then tell me what is?” Darroux remarked.
– Staff reporter
i wonder if one of my family get sick and i take some medical bill to the minister of health , would he offer me assistanc? or should i fight my way….that would prove to me, layou people are hard working people , so plz people show a little more respect , this village is not one of skerritt’s animal farm.
It is very sad it has come to this Dominicans against Dominicans and how did we reach that stage well I will enlight you, When we allow others to think for us and we raher sit on the fence that’s what happen we allow our Government official to take us for granted we refuse to stand up and fight for what we believe in because others say we should just go along with the flow that’s dictatorship.
I do support the people of Layou they have the right to be heard.
There are some people when they are ill can pay their passage and fly to any other Country for treatment but their are others that just cannot do that therefore, their concerns are justified and we should respect them
Greed above the lives of others should not be more important because CANCER is a reality
Give peace a chance in D.A…excuse me while i light my mix cigar…
we have lots of vacant land in this aria cant the government locate a good portion for the plant. its a real good thing that we have the plant. its a good product for our roads.
Sorry but concrete is better suited to high rainfall locations like Dominica.
Asphalt is best suited for dry dusty areas to hold the dust together.
Concrete gets stronger when exposed to water while asphalt floats above the water and washes away.
Concrete can be reinforced with steel or fibre to provide tensile strength which prevents the roads from sinking and slipping away in land slides.
Concrete roads last hundreds of years and does not seep out toxic chemicals into our soils as asphalt does.
Dominica has the raw materials and the cost of concete roads is actually less than sphalt.
once the workers are using face masks the concrete is safe when mixing but asphalt being aromatic easily penetrates your skin and through face masks.
but i think the concrete will be harder to mainntain though and the raods will only end up very bumpy when the concrete is patced.
Cement is way to expensive and uneconomical.
• Chemicals of Special Concern to Children’s Health – EH: Minnesota …
• However, you can significantly reduce your child’s exposure by avoiding certain … Avoid areas where asphalt road construction or tar roofing is occurring. …. high doses of BPA may affect sperm count, fetal development, and obesity. …
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/children/chemicals.html –
• Environmental Health Perspectives: Effects of Prenatal Exposure to …
• The findings indicate that exposure to pollutants from the power plant adversely …. pregnancy (chemical exposure, including coal products from hot asphalt or tar ….. Developmental Diagnosis: Normal and Abnormal Child Development. …
ehsehplp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action;jsessionid… –
• Resources
• Factories making bitumen (a British term for asphalt, crude petroleum and tar), … the effect of prenatal exposure to airborne PAHs on child development, …
http://www.momsforcleanair.net/Resources.html –
• Asphalt Exposure Enhances Neuropeptide Levels in Sensory Neurons …
• Asphalt fumes have been reported to produce nasal irritation in road workers. Since inhaled irritants can increase substance P (SP) production in airw…
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/…/content~db=all~content=a713853703
• http://tih.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/18/9-10/417
• NIOSH Topic: Asphalt Fumes | CDC/NIOSH
• by A Acrobat
15 Jun 2009 … Exposure limits, Respirator Recommendations, First Aid, more. … Hazard Review: Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Asphalt …
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/asphalt/ – Cached – Similar
• eLCOSH : NIOSH Construction Compendium
• Specific recommendations will be based on initial surveys and quantitative analyses of exposure levels. The exposure of roofing kettle operators to asphalt …
http://www.elcosh.org/en/document/98/1022/…/asphalt.html – United States
• http://www.ilo.org/safework_bookshelf/english?content&nd=857170934
• http://www.docstoc.com/docs/25937481/ASPHALT-PLANT-POLLUTION
• http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asphaltfumes/recognition.html
• UNI : World Day Against Child Labour 2005: Digging for survival …
• Silica dust and lung cancer in the German stone, quarrying, and …
• Controlling Hazards
• PDF] List of occupational diseases (revised 2010)
• File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases caused by inhalation of coal dust, dust from stone quarries, wood dust, dust from cereals and agricultural work, …
webdev.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed…/wcms_125137.pdf
• TASK FORCE 4: ELIMINATION OF SILICOSIS Co-Chairs: Igor Fedotov …
• The ILO/WHO Joint Committee on Occupational Health launched in 1995 a Global …… Keywords: Agate industry, quartz grinding industry, stone quarries, dust …
https://www.who.int/occupational_health/topics/en/oehtf4.pdf
• Controlling Hazards
• … ITSs (International Trade Secretariats) and the ILO (International Labour Office). … “Wet methods” mean spraying water over a dusty surface to keep dust down, … Another is using a water jet for drilling and mining and quarrying …
http://www.itcilo.it/english/actrav/telearn/osh/hazard/controlb.htm
• HEALTH HAZARDS OF MINING AND QUARRYING
• The most common processes that produce respirable silica dust in mining and quarrying are drilling, blasting and cutting silica-containing rock. …
http://www.ilo.org/safework_bookshelf/english?content&nd...
• ILO Says 246 Million Children Forced to Work
• 12 Jun 2005 … To mark this year’s World Day against Child Labor, the ILO is focusing on the elimination of child labor in small-scale mining and quarrying …
http://www.voanews.com/tibetan/archive/2005…/2005-06-12-voa3.cfm?... –
• LYON COUNTY ZONING REGULATIONS
• File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
A Quarry Operator shall maintain on-site and off-site dust control at all times. … The Quarry Operator shall provide, with the application to the Zoning …
http://www.lyoncounty.org/Zoning_Art_10_0708.pdf
• http://www.ilo.org/safework_bookshelf/english?content&nd=857170934
• UNI : World Day Against Child Labour 2005: Digging for survival …
Saint Mary’s primary school students exposed to asbestos from scouts headquarters
1. Mesothelioma: Questions and Answers – National Cancer Institute
In addition to mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer, asbestosis (a noncancerous, chronic lung ailment), and other cancers, …
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites…/mesothelioma –
• asbestos in school
A leading occupational hygienist, Robin Howie, gave a graphic illustration of how deaths from asbestos exposure amongst school teachers is significantly …
http://www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk/ –
• Asbestos Exposure and Cancer Risk – National Cancer Institute
Both the TSCA Hotline and the Asbestos Ombudsman can provide publications on a number of topics, particularly on controlling asbestos exposure in schools …
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos –
… the list goes on indefinitely
on a practical level, an intelligible solution must be devised for this difficult problem-it CANNOT include Layou as a possible location though.
Anonymous,
When you are still fast asleep at 4 am we fishermen of Layou are out at sea…
Come try some hard work for once in your life.
in wonder if you will last the 1st 10 minutes of pulling a seine far less going out where our brothers are being shot out at sea.
We work very to feed our family,
We have built our homes and we don’t depend on begging our lifestyle is sustainable and has been going on for centuries.
Our food chain starts in the river mouth.
How many wars did France fight to get the resources of Dominica?
Why did massacre get its name? Was it not a French massacre of the indigenous people?
is there any difference here today?
How is an EIA done?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_assessment
I guess it depends on who’s model you use…or if the intension is population control/ strategic population change
You from Layou?
One of the fundamental priniciple in conducting an EIA is public involvement and participation (involve the diverse public- especially the people from layou )- at all stages of the project life. The people [(layou) concerns should not be considered as void, but there should be continous interactions with the people on a way forward in addressing their concerns. It is also imperative that for such type of projects a full scale SIA is conducted as well. It will always be a difficult task to get these kind of projects going in such a small country (land mass). Inevitably if it is not Layou, the plant will be located close to another village, community, or national treasure. The way forward includes: negotation of interest over positions. Talk to the people, involve them, go to them and understand thier interests and try to meet it and in turn they will meet the interests of the Governent. Mitigation factors will be considered and there will be a mutual understanding (friendship, relationship).
I would like to see the EIA conducted. I would like to know if there is a policy as it relates to such developmental projects. Definitely, there is conflict because of lack of public involvement, planning, lack of strategic management and the list goes on..
Amen to that, a prerequiste to any good EIA is preliminary scoping and screening, the concerns of the people should therefore not be considered as VOID, there ought to be public consultation forums in which the people are educated on the matter and all their concerns noted and included as FUNDAMENTAL considerations of the EIA. I dare say the minister is not handling this matter properly, he is forgetting that he is a representative of the people and not of Gardarkhan, he seems to be speaking very much in Gardarkhan’s defense. I think an indepedent Environmental Expert needs to be identified to assess this project.
Anonymous,
When you are still fast asleep at 4 am we fishermen of Layou are out at sea…
Come try some hard work for once in your life.
in wonder if you will last the 1st 10 minutes of pulling a seine far less going out where our brothers are being shot out at sea.
We work very to feed our family,
We have children too the ordour is cancer cuasing.
“Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have the ability to cause cellular mutations and are considered carcinogenic. Inhalation of high levels of PAHs in occupational settings has been shown to cause respiratory effects and immune system depression in humans. Mixtures of PAHs can cause skin disorders in humans. In laboratory studies, some PAHs have also been shown to cause developmental effects and changes in kidney and liver functioning. PAH is considered a potent carcinogen, meaning low doses may cause cancer.”
We have built our homes and we don’t depend on begging our lifestyle is sustainable and has been going on for centuries.
Our food chain starts in the river mouth.
How many wars did France fight to get the resources of Dominica?
Why did massacre get its name? Was it not a French massacre of the indigenous people?
is there any difference here today?
How is an EIA done?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_assessment
I guess it depends on who’s model you use…or if the intension is population control/ strategic population change
“Do onto others as you would have them do onto you”
why not ask them to put it in your community.
“PAHs are one of the most widespread organic pollutants. In addition to their presence in fossil fuels they are also formed by incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels such as wood, coal, diesel, fat, tobacco, or incense.”
The people of layou and the government officials got to solve this problem on a positive note.Do not let our people down P.M.gotta work hand in hand.
you all had a chance to vote them out.Instead you all voted them in. what the government is trying to do is wrong.Too bad innocent people got to inhale that stuff.I personally think the best place to put it is in skerrite back yard
So who is the ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER on the compliance committee? Who on the committee is trained to do environmental monitoring and measurement? I want to Know, is all well and good for publicity and politics that the PM is on the committee, but is he an environmental specialist? Who are the specialist and is the government investing in monitoring equipment to ensure that air emissions from the plant are within safe limits?
Anonymous for your information Layou is not “Poor little Haiti of Dominica” Know your place.
What we need to find our is how many Layou residents are employed at that plant?
We need to stop playing polictics and move on – development comes with change.
Disgraceful, to say the least, the manner in which the Government has treated the people of Layou and the Improvement Committee. It seems the Govt does not understand the meaning of the word ”to consult”.
THat place should not have residents .
This place is a death trap.
Government should relocate the residents from that poor little Haiti of Dominica
what makes layou a death trap???? this is a peaceful place with hard working people… would you like a plant next to your home?
Layou commitee need to get it own consultant to do EI – I am almost positive that there are a lot of unwritten conditions that will affect the people in that area— Next 5years wait for health issues for the govmt to say it has nothing to do with it. All they will get is SKerro and Darroux at thir love one funeral—-
Are we going to keep doing this each and every time an opportunity presents itself in Dominica and then wonder why it is we are unable to move forward. Here I was of the opinion that the LIC wanted to protest because they had some hard evidence of wrong doing and had maybe an EIA which said that the plant would be harmful. Here it is we are trying to rehabilitate our roads and you guys are saying you want to put the stop to asphalt production locally? This is something we need and as Dominicans we need to stop fighting development. Everything we do here does not necessarily impact negatively on the overall nature destination which is Dominica.
If you do the same thing the same exact way everytime, you can only expect the same results. Change is not always bad although it may be scary. Unless we start doing things differently we will be stuck in time.
I do not get why 3 members of your organization cannot represent you guys at a meeting. I do not see the entire cabinet going to represent Dominica everytime representation is required. This is not a political thing, just a logistic one. Look at the benefits that may be derived from this plant.
It really angers me when i see our ppl continually run investment opportunities out of Dominica and then hear them cry that the govt does nothing.
Forward You go,
at the expense of poor inocent hard working residents?
What investment? Asphalt roads are for dry areas.
asphalt washes away with every rain fall as it is an oil…every couple of years it needs patching
it gets in the food chain and eventually into our system.
Concrete roads on the other hand get stronger with every rain shower, they are cooler, and last longer. there are concrete roads since the time of Christ.
The main ingredients for concrete roads are found in Dominica. Unfortunately it is exported for almost nothing while we import hazardous, costly asphalt raw matrials.
Take a visit to SABA, the french islands etc.. you will see the maintainance free concrete roads built with Dominica’s material.
Ok backward person… Dominica must be in some other area and not the caribbean, wait roads are made entirely of asphalt. I guess we could use concrete on our roads, perhaps they might be better roads, while we on the topic we could have proper drainage on all our roads. Dude no matter how you cut it we are going to need to put asphalt on some road, and why should we wait for a shipment everytime we ready. I am not going to debate anything. You guys will not die because of the asphalt plant and stop crying thinking every single plant proposal be it a water bottling plant will end up killing our ppl.
When development involves risking the lives of innocent people whom at the end of the day may never benefit from any part of such “development” – should it be allowed?. You have to consider the importance of a healthy population in regards to the development of a country. What would development worth a country if it had an unhealthy population? Development is nothing and will never happen without the population of a country!!!!! Development is good and sadly its usually at the cost of others lives, but that’s not fair!!!!!
DOMINICA DOESN’T HAVE MUCH PEOPLE AND IF THAT ASPHALT PLANT, GIVEN ITS CURRENT LOCATION, IS DEVELOPMENT – IT MEANS WE ARE SO DESPERATE FOR DEVELOPMENT THAT WE ARE IGNORANT ABOUT IT!!!!!
I cannot understand that. Every project, every decision, every initiative is being stiffled. While I understand there are genuine concerns, we must find common grounds to move this place forward. I am a st. Joe man. i want to see my community move forward. Lets have the damn discussion and move on, everything cannot just be workers labour and skerrit. Oh S*** Man!!!
And most of you commenting there not from St. Joe or Layou. STOP IT!! for once let us deal with something on a community level and critize constructively.
We cannot continue to bash every initiative of a government, whoever is in power.
We protest when gay boats come and we run oversees and gays sitting by us on buses and trains
they even serving us in fastfood restaurants
we want to cost of living to go down but we will not buy local
we want development but we want all the trees and every macadam rock and sand
we keep saying we can make money from water but we dont want the government to sell it
we want foreign investors but we dont want nobody to come in our country
we want more hotels but dont cut a tree
the developed countries have more asphalt and fumes and is there we running
This is a damn joke now man. You either want progress or you want to stay how we are. So why ask government about jobs and foreign investment.
Layou and St.Joe can make a meaningful contribution to DA development. This project is good. Let us just review it and move forward. Call who we have to call and get the discussion going.
How much asphalt can that size plant generate like that to kill people. Its just for local use so why just kill the project like is labour own.
you all doh see dictatorship at work…We just do and nobody barks
Block the road? For what? Are they drunk? Nothing they haven’t got to do or what?
“Meantime Charles said while the people of Layou want to protest again, he advised them to “play it cool,” until the Committee meets with government.
Void concerns
He said an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was done and dismissed all concerns they have expressed, adding “the EIA has ruled favourably that all the concerns that the Layou people have expressed they [are] really void.”
According to him, the summary showed that the only thing that could be pose as a problem is the ordour from the plant.”
So if the EIA dismiss all concerns what else they want? Maybe they just want to sit down in Layou and let money fall from the sky. This is a lot of noise about nothing.