Citizens are being discouraged from purchasing salt fish, also known as codfish, on the black market in Dominica.
That warning is coming from the Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation which reported that security was breached at the Fond Cole Landfill by a local citizen on Monday and condemned and contaminated salt fish was stolen.
Marcus Francis, who manages the landfill, told the media on Wednesday that the condemned food was later resold to some members of the public.
“On Monday, one of our business customers came to the landfill to dispose some condemned goods namely codfish. About 12:15 we accompanied to truck to a cell where the codfish was disposed of. The cell is an excavated area that is generally safe from access to anyone. The salt fish was safely disposed of. Sometime about 5:30 p.m it was reported that the security was breached by the western end of the landfill ….a gentleman made his way, took the salt fish and made his way back to the community,” he explained.
He continued, “I immediately investigated the matter and called the police who responded promptly and told them about the potential consequences of the matter being out in the general public and being consumed. Some of the condemned goods have been retrieved and placed back in the cell. It was a clear breach of security of what happened.”
Francis stated that efforts by the police have yeilded positive results. “The efforts of the police yielded good results and about 45 to 50 percent of the cod fish was retreived and placed back on the landfill,” he said.
He confirmed that the contaminated item was found in the shop of someone in the Tarish Pit/Stock Farm area and warns of “severe health consequences” for those who consume it.
Chief Environmental Health Officer Anthony Scottland says the news is very disturbing.
“There are major public health risks associated with that activity. There are several foodborne diseases that can derive from that. We are perturbed by that incident and we are calling on solid waste to work closely with us to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Meanwhile Police PRO Inspector, John Carbon, said person could face prosecution if they purchased and is selling salt fish they got from the person who entered the landfill.
u cant blame the man things getting hard so he try to make a lil money if u where in that position wat would u have done
Even though it will make people sick and kill theme? Everyone is not the same as those men. Some people would not waste their time to go to the dirty landfill and take contaminated codfish. They would also never eat it. Others who knew about it would also not purchase it and eat it. I would not. Therefore, who are you talking about? Yourself?
don’t buy hte codfish people it bad for your health. it is contaminated.
Saltfish Some men does get drunk to taste it
Saltfish Some does go and hide to face it
Saltfish It’s sweeter than meat
When you want to eat remember it could kill you
So only my wife Saltfish I eating….
if somebody else eating in ur plate?
u that eating it man
when they have these contaminated goods or food SPRAY it with some coloured paint, but noone should do this to endanger people’s lives…terrible and frightening…
Is this the level of articulation and diction expected from a “news reporter”,on a site that is read by thousands if not millions of readers?smh
Though I understand what is being said,the grammar is just poor and to recant exactly what the individual said in “his dialect” is seriously lol.
Anyways proper security measures should be placed when disposing of “foods” amongst “biodegradable” as mentioned by the news media when this story “broke out”.
get a life
I have always been clear onon the substandards express daily. What bugs me most is when people post their various opinions these less than mediocre reporters justify their non printing of the various posts as politically incorrect to DNO.
Changing the theme : When I was growing up on the island,one did not have these fears. We were poor (and continue to be) peeps were honest and lived within their means.oday and since we got to the NEXT LEVEL Da is regressed to a level where we were never at.Sq peg have always shown their head once in a while but eveyone knew hence when the declaration came the inidivdual( sq Pegs went o hide migrated etc.) today are everywhere and in our /ur faces.They have the cojones to tell U no law no constitution can stop them. So what are the fond cole Saltfish exsumers have to go by? Corruption in the highest places. It is then propagated to the bottom of the society.The salt fish theives are no different from the garbage bin and fertilizer bobolists. Meme bet meme peul.
Al of them is one comess.
Think about it:
1. what is trash is trash. Now if u choose to make some one trash your treasure, that’s on you so keep it all for your self and do not distribute.
2.The shop owners need to be prosecuted for buying stolen goods or buying goods to distrubute to the public from some one without a license…THE SHOP OWNER SHOULD BE ASKING WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GET IT.
It is the responsibility of any shop owner to deliver QUALIFY PRODUCTS to their customers
3.Is the codfish a small part of a bigger problem. How is it that salt fish is contaminated by rats and roach feaces (this was discussed on DBS yesturday)……so what else is contaminated and what quality of food are we offering to the Dominican public.
Again, think about it
All he you look at it salt fish is always putting man and woman in trouble.
boi allu see wat de economy hav doin my people dem . i so want 2 cry eh. but i holdin my tears. money money money. we always need more of it but is where and how we gettin it. jus see dat now. i stop eat codfish eh. it can be dat only dat dre i not goin and eat it. i goin VEGAN. nothing that cum from animal i not in dat.i sorry for de people dat buy de codfish and eat it. and i had so like a lamowee eh. stupez
So many filthy shopkeepers on the island, so many pounds of infested/contaminated foods already being sold to the general public with no remorse what so ever. Some of them all they have at home right now is what they been looting from the Landfill……A lot of you all speaking but 90% of you all done ate some contaminated crap in Dominica, that’s why most of us have leather belly lol…..
one word, VEGAN
Chief Environmental Health Officer Anthony Scottland Please… that shop in the Tarish Pit/Stock Farm area should be closed down and the license should be revoked.
i TOTALLY agree
Why is this shop still open? They should of name the shop because that is putting society lives at risk. This is dam nonsense.
And whilst your’e at it close some of these rickety places that call themselves retaurants too. Too much sub-standard in our country. We want to see real progress and hear fewer speeches.
Exactly, less talk and action!!!
Send a clear message.. CLose that SHOP!!
I found the explanation provided by Marcus Francis of Solid Waste unacceptable. As the one responsible for the security of the landfill, he has to take the full blast of the failed security. All this talk about breach of security does not absolve him of the responsibility. Marcus is the one who failed to secure the perimeter and content of the landfill. The landfill has measures and personnel meant to secure its content. This alone is evidence that it is meant to be a secure place. Marcus heads this function. He therefore failed in this core area of his job. There is no blame to the guy who entered the landfill. The owners of the landfill are aware that unauthorised people are likely to enter the landfill, hence the reason the place is fenced and a manager appointed to secure the place. Marcus failed in his responsibility and his failure placed a large section of the Roseau residents at risk of ill health and even death.
Don’t people enter countries illegally? Don’t thefts enter houses?
yes he is responsible the land field, but you your expectation is not practical. …
though I understand the spirit of your post, you have erred in stating “. There is no blame to the guy who entered the landfill.” that is an irresponsible statement. if you lock all the doors in your house and secure the windows and a thief still gains access, then its not the thief’s fault. is that your argument? Secondly you didn’t think to assess blame to any possible vendors who may buy contaminated food from unlicensed sources for the purpose of retailing to consumers.
Be careful where you buy bakes and Codfish this carnival… it could be La Bass Lamowee!!!
And stay away from those lamowee accra, you never know what you are putting your teeth into!
Well, well, I aint eating anything with saltfish for the rest of the year eh.
ah feel sorry for your wife
This sure if funny!!! lol
See what layba party bring my people to picking up salt fish in rubbish dump to sell for survival. Things so bad in Dominica.
Dude, get a life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You people need to stop!!
so because we poor we have to put ourselves in the gutters, we are selling poison to a fellow dominican.. tarish pit and gutter people why are you doing this?, i guess a ghetto will never move on to be a place of togetherness and prosperity.. you all will remain like crabs in a barrel if you keep sell poisons and crack to yourselves.
Guess it was contaminated with RAT pee. We must be carreful people where we eat and what we eat.
Codfish? No codfish, Go down labass and teef a box of lamowee, lamowee? awah,awah, no lamowee, I Is a man i doesn eat coshorni, awah awah no coshorni… Down by save alot i go spend my money!!!… …
It sweeter than meat. when you want to eat. All saltfish sweet!
Heal our people Lord, please heal our land. Heal our minds and cause us to operate in a mental environment that glorifies you Lord.
This is a very sad occurrence indeed. It is truly sad.
would like to know what the codfish was contaminated with and how it happened.
you like too much story thats not important the codfish is not good and had to do away with it on the other had if you were listening to the radio you would hear how it was. The good thing out of that is that they do the right thing by not selling it to make back their money but they were concern about your health, others and mines as well.
Could be rats
Saltfish came from a store owner –contaminated with rat faeces and other rodents. It appears that things are really hard in D/ca to stoop to that level. We are at our lowest. Anything to survive, at whatever cost.
and rats pees
This is not necessary. Contamination is Contamination! The salt fish ended up in the landfill means that it is no longer suitable for consumption.
Whenever you import a product into the country you need a certificate from the importer issued by the relevant public health/ plant quarantine agency where the product comes from attesting to it’s ‘wholesomeness, free of pathogens and contaminant’..
Upon reaching its destination the local plant quarantine perform a secondary inspection checking all documentation ensuring that imports from the country from which the goods were received are from that country. But more importantly they have to physically examine the product to check for (1) tainting of the product (2) decay during importation as a result of improper storage.. So you see the list is endless.. Do some research.
Be realistic Home Alone. We don’t even have breathalyzer kits so you think we have all thes precautions in place. Remember, it is our current Minister of Health who said that we are a third world country. Maybe he takes pride in that,I certainly don’t. We do have a bureau of standards but to be honest, to this day I could not tell you what they do although I tried to find out.
Is that what we have been reduced to, a nation of scavengers? Make do with other man’s rejects, ratoon? Malgraysa!
people have been doing that for yrs. Stop acting like because its in the media its new.
To be on the safeside domt eat outside saltfish eat your own at home LOL
Nasty! Wicked! Mischievous!
LMAO
All Salt Fish Sweet!
Saltfish is the most preserved fish ever with salt, yet still that consignment got contaminated.
Man does go in landfill to get it. I guess when you out to eat — all solfish sweet!
that don’t make no sense……….. how can one local citizen go to a land field and take so much salt fish to even have selling?????? did he have a vehicle?
Yes and from the discription it may be a very popular person, carnival season look out.
its just like saying dont cheat.lololool
The first problem I see here is that a well engineered landfill should have garbage in the cells covered at the end of the day before closing.Apparently they just dumped the codfish and left it uncovered so there was easy access. If the garbage was covered and compacted that person who breached security would probably not be able to retrieve the codfish. Secondly the food products entering the landfill should be denatured or rendered unfit for any use whatsoever such as spraying with diesel. Thirdly the Police should prosecute the intruder for trespass as well as endangering the health of the public. I agree with the suggestion that the Landfill need an incinerator or an air curtain burner to destroy infectious and hazardous wastes, that way people will not have access to those types of waste.
So you have to properly dispose of codfish in a landfill so people won’t have access to it??? The whole point of it being in the landfill is beacuse it is not good! Jeez. Do we have to make an excuse for everything?
To you the codfish may not be good but to others it may seem good hence the reason someone would go at length to enter the landfill to obtain it. It is not good enough merely to “dump” the codfish in the landfill. Even if it is at the landfill, it should have been properly disposed of by burying or compacting or mixing it with the other garbage. And you should know or maybe you don’t know that one of the standard operating procedures of any modern and well engineered landfill is that all garbage must be covered by the end of the days operation. If the codfish was properly secured, it would not have been retrieved. The intruder is culpable but the landfill management must also take responsibility for the security of the landfill and its contents.
so wait what you tryin and say is we have to make sure we properly dispose the codfish before we turn our backs! IS A LANDFIELD! the whole point of the codfish bein there is because it not good. stupez that economy there see how it hav people boy. so much money they dow hav they goin and vole codfish jus to get a money to go and eat! awa wii poor Dominica
So you saying that the landfill is solely at fault?
What kind of sick person would steal “food” from the landfill to sell to unknowing persons?
Since when we are so rich in Dominica that we can throw away good food?
If it was fit for human consumption then obviously they would not be throwing it away in the same cell as bio-medical waste from the hospital….
why would someone steal buried saltfish from a sanitary landfill? SMH It just oesnt make any sense
So he could make some money for D carnival. Without any concern for others. He don’t care to kill 100’s just to make a buck. That Shop owner better be in Deep trouble!!
De man make right take de slatfish .Trash suppose to be covered completely at the end of each day the landfill is operational(recieving trash) Trash should be compacted and covered with six or more inches of cover material(dirt).If that was happening he would be selling meyet saltfish with dirt in it.And we wonder where all dem flies comming from when we stop to eat at one of those snackets at the port.
Nonsense. DO u even listen to yourself?
Are all landfills covered? gosh – you people willt ry to explain or condone anything.
At the ene day of that was jUST WRONG and the voleh should go JAIL.. if you heard that someone died it would be a different story.
sopt acept trash and you’d not get close to eating it
long live Lennox next search Tony Astaphan`s cause he is not the master of Dominica.
its alright nothing will happen to dominican the amount that eating in the dump in st marteen and nothing happenin to them
I guess you must be one of them that enjoying the landfill food in St. Maarten!!!
I think the shopkeeper suppose to be arrested along with the guy because they knows that it was stolen, both should be punished.
Great job by all “NOTE” there was a prompt respond by the police, nice to read that line from time to time. It`s every body`s business to respond in a timely manner when ever such acts are comitted to ensure the security and safety of our people. Keep up the great work and lets continue to assist the police and every one who is involved in fighting crimes.
people too like to buy things on the black market. the shop keeper knew the man doh have no wholesale for her to buy saltfish from him. i hope she/he got arrested.
i believe the person who took the saltfish from the landfill has a mental problem because i cannot believe a man with “his good senses” will go and do a thing like that.
all those that eat de saltfish a warning “Not because sparrow say all saltfish sweet, all u have to eat any saltfish.
Garcon a little saltvfishbwith some condom sauce , hospital pee pee and some bobo juice on that so good. Garçon tings rough in our depleted country and is only a few that eating the milk and cheese so doh blame us for eating from the garbage supplies.
hospital pee pee and bobo juice, nice one
Wayyyyyyy see how Dominicans get under skerrit
you all must stop!!! I am not a total Skerrit Fan, but alas, do you really had to blame the man for everything?
A selfish citizen do such a thing and you blame the PM? Stop point fingers…
When Hunter government was not in power and he sang about politicians and the economic status of te country he sang a song named ” anything for a dollar” and another song gwayais and another called they decalais the country.
let us not by pokwit or bias- Buying salt fish from the dump is a strong sign of the economic situation in Dominica. A pound of salt fish is $17 and salt fishuse to e the staple of the poor man now to eat saltfish one has to be a mi ister, advisor, president, senior counsel, Easy Door, Francis E, IPO, ambassador and some yard fowls.
When Dominicans were independent people we would never eat out of the rubbish dump. That sound harsh but reality can be harsh sometimes.
I
If shopkeepers and residents stop buying from these thieves, they will stop stealing things to bring to them. Some people are buying anything those guys bring for them, they pay those thieves little money, and then sell the stuff at regular prices. Now they are buying contaminated codfish for innocent people to eat and feed their children. And a wicked lawyer will still come and make up a story to defend those people that bought the stolen codfish. I would like to know how those lawyers would feel, if they were given the contaminated codfish to eat. Carnival is coming, and people just buying stuff from anybody, who knows which is the contaminated codfish. Some people might still the codfish on the roadside…who knows… What a mess. I hope they throw all away, because they sprayed chemical it.
Some individuals will harm you just to earn money,I hope folks will not purchase these selfish and sell it to people and they knows its harmful at the time.
we have a sick society living in. b4 we see somebody come with some cheap stuff we to quick to buy it.some of those ppl who sell dont have no mean of gaining an income but they sell.certain shop keepers know de track record of some of those individuals but still the keep buying putting there family and their customers in danger.Can u imagine codfish so expensive and all of a sudden one of those characters come sell it for u cheaply. Shouldnt u ask yourself and the person questions b4 buying?
Long Live Lennox Linton. Uncover the saltfish in government!Let the stench kill every corrupt one.
Corruption stinks saltfish.
@T I Like that! A saltfish government.
Really!!! more evidence of where we are headed in dominica. there can be no discussion without politics 1and stupid comments.
Is people like you that listen to linton that is why u blame everything on the government cause u cannot think for yourself.
look some fools eh…. u degrading ur party more if u think u trying to bring down another. go to the state college n get educated, foool
People coming out of the State College, who can’t even spell properly and don’t know their grammar. If that is the result of the USE programme I’d rather go overseas for a proper education.
dont know why people like you have access to internet
I don’t understand that myself.
Can u believe at least 30 people agreed with this dumb-dumb
What does stealing codfish have to do with politics? What is wrong with you people!!!
Would you believe that we import some $6 million of seafood every year and that this codfish represents a significant portion of that? In my view it is an unhealthy commodity that is a relic from our plantation days. We should wean ourselves off it and eat fresh, locally caught fish instead.
our foods, even from our plantation days, are part of our culture. please propose reliable, realistic solutions
I agree with you. Eliminating codfish from the diet will help combat chronic diseases like Hypertension that controls our lives. I visited Dominica recently and my carry-on luggage consisted of only fresh frozen fish and I am enjoying it. What taste better than the fresh fish from Dominica?
Larchmont Ny you are lucky you were not stopped at your point of entry. Fresh fish rather frozen or not is not allowed to be imported
Well said…could not agree with you more. It’s high time that we in DA make ourselves independent from imported food. There is enough fertile land & ocean access to feed that small population.
ignorance?
absolutely. same goes for gel cochon and pig’s tails.
No gel cochon but give me my pigtail.
Speak in the first person. In other words, speak for yourself!
desperate times call for desperate measures.
Thanks for the prompt action mr. Francis. However, there are some questions:
– does Solid Waste have an on-site incinerator to dispose of hazardous goods? I am also thinking here of clinical waste, which apparently is disposed off stored in the same area.
Last but not least, wasn’t the Chief environmental Health Officer, who finds this news “disturbing” and acknowleges that “there are major public health risks associated with that activity”, in charge of Solid Waste when tyres were burned at the company’s landfill site in the open,releasing carcinogenic smoke, which is a public health risk also?
Lord help our nation, what happening to Dominican’s? All you hate each other so much that all you would kill all you own. I hope the person that go for it eating from it too. What good for the goose good for the gander.
@ MIMI
who gave you the authority to condemn all Dominicans for one incident, allegedly committed by one man. Apparently you can’t be a Dominican at all. Whilst the action was desperate and totally uncalled for, your knee-jerk condemnation of an entire people is childish and bigoted. Dominicans by and large are good people there are criminal there like exist in any land where there are humans.
Mimi, you think Mr. is stupid? That codfish is for selling, not eating!
Mimi, Do you know the story of the Brooklyn Bridge construction. The company that was given the contract to provide the cable was using steel that failed the inspection. The owners of that company didn’t care that they were point lives in danger and would destroy a major project (now one of the seven wonders of the industrial world)
I say this to say, in every culture and country you have selfish people who only think of themselves!!!!
Dominicans resort to the trash bins. As the labor party said all shall EAT. But they never said all shall eat what!
lol “Aye” allu not easy.
You idiot… All criminals committing crimes is labor party fault? Bring politics into everything. As if is now Dominica have degenerates. Put a damn sock in it. Bias people
Tell these bunch of lazy rats, go find hard work to do, go plant the soil. Stop trying to blame any party for everything. Dominicans have abandoned their soil for imported goods. So please stop blaming the government
Wow what does that have to do with politics? so long Dominicans going labasse and take things that have been dumped, chicken, rusty and dented canned goods, old biscuits and sharing it. The person or persons selling this stuff are in the wrong.
@aye … and from which plate we would be eating… So I guess is from the garbage bin!!!
what is wrong with people them days there nuh?
They are hungry…The thieves have ammassed everything and the majority cannot survive.
bonjaiii n e thing for a dollar…….even in land fill domincans going to get stuff to re sell. this man must be jailed for endangering the life of others
Fishy whoever dumped the saltfish told that person.Our people have gone to the lowest in society.Very sad,money is the root of all evil.That’s what the leaders of the country are all about so the citizens are following the exact footsteps.Poor people,so sad.
stupesss garcon stop dat nonesense…why do we always have to play di game blame???…. geesssh man!
So…a man steels from the dump and it;s the government’s fault??? trying to follow that logic. are they also responsible for other’s success????…because there are many successful people in Dominca.
…in relation to you first sentence, I suspected the same….hmmm
Dominican vendors need to stop practicing the purchase of stolen goods from individuals. They also need to keep their shops tidy.
That is just crazy that someone would do that. Why are shopkeepers just buying this from someone on the road. Anything to make a profit. Hope noone has eaten this. I need to know why the police or solid waste etc did not some out on Monday to say this to ensure that noone ate this rather than the story breaking two days after. What if someone dies ? WHAT IF ?????
***YESSAH CODFISH***
You all must pour gasoline & BURN the fish next time!! That way no one will want to steal it and it will remain disposed!!
you are so right it was not disposed properly, it should have been done right away
The solid waste personnel have the gall to claim that they DISPOSED of the codfish, when in reality what they did was just stockpile it in an attractive manner for any opportunistic criminal to take advantage of this negligence.
This action have not only placed the lives of many innocent citizens at morbid risk, but also soiled the name of the country as well. There is need for a complete inquiry into how solid waste go about doing its waste disposal, this useless story about “security breach” just don’t cut it. The callous management of this landfill leaves much to be desired and speaks volumes of the administration of the landfill.
Due to the long shelf life of the said product, unaccounted quantities in the hands of unscrupulous vendors could remain in circulation for several months and wind their way to many an unsuspecting patron during mass festival gatherings like carnival and its associated shows. So all must remain vigilant.
Thanks!! That’s exactly how you dispose of items to prevent pilferage by ‘stock farm bandits’.
You render it in a shape or form that anyone thinking of taking it would be totally discouraged..
These are the things that the police need to investigate,not Lennox Linton.
I agree 1000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000%
You really got time on your hands
nothing bigger than 100%
There is stuff bigger than 100%. For example 200% means you double what you started with. Just FYI.
What are the “severe consequences”… inform the masses so we can identify early signs.
Is one thing about buying the raw good…what about sancouche, bakes….
do we really have to spell out what “severe consequences” may transpire if you eat food from the trash..not just any trash…a landfil????
ok…here goes…one may experience nausea and vomiting and diarrhea leading to dehydration and possible hospitalization.
The Mighty Sparrow had a very popular song in 1975 or 1976, and one of the lines was “ALL SALT FISH SWEET”. Well that genuine saltfish/lamowi/bakalaw from the Labass Landfill cell certainly aint sweet!
Is the salt a metaphor for the passports that were being sold all over the place.
please make a sensible comment next time.. wht does tht have to do with saltfish???
why would someone go to a landfill where garbage or items unfit for consumption is disposed of and resell to the public? out of greed this person can cause a major epidemic on the irreplaceable lives of people all in the name of a penny which can be replaced
that is something else those shopkeeper more doh easy than the person who brought it for them even doh it wasnt from the landfill he got it they should not have accept it from him. he doh own no licenced whole sales.what they taking from him for? Jail their Rass too.
trust me i agree…
a bit confused. Did the police arrest the owner of the shop in tarish pit who was selling these items???
Yes they did arrest the shopkeepers.