Speeches in the National Assembly

APPOINTMENT OF A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO INVESTIGATE THE INCIDENCE OF ILLNESS AND DEATHS IN THE BARIMA-WAINI REGION OF GUYANA
Dr. Norton: I rise to support the motion brought before this honourable House by Brigadier (Ret’d) David Granger, M.S.S, leader of the majority in the House. This motion is to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the incidence of illness and deaths in the Barima-Waini region of  Guyana.
For many of decades I have been visiting the Barima-Waini region at various times, on various field trips, so today I speak with a full amount of authority about the situation in this region and will relate the facts as were personally witnessed, by me, during those trips. Almost on all of those visits, which I have made there, being a physician by profession and by practice I am always involved with the deaths of persons, especially infants of the Amerindian villages, from sicknesses of vomiting and diarrhoea due mainly to waterborne disease caused by the coliform bacteria known as the escherichia coli. One of the main sources of these bacteria is of course faeces, especially of the human beings.
While I must stick to the motion which refers specifically to the Barima-Waini, Region  1, we must not, for one moment, think that this disease is not common to other parts of this country, for it is particularly so in the Amerindian villages of the other hinterland regions. This motion however, makes specific reference to Region 1 because of what happened at the beginning of this year, during the month of February, where more than 529 Guyanese became sick with a disease known as gastro-enteritis, a sickness characterising mainly by vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pains. This incident can be best described as the epidemiological disaster, particularly so in the areas of Port Kaituma and the surrounding villages such as Canal Bank, Sebai, Quarry Hill, Oronoque, Four Miles, Citrus Grove  and Mc Doom. It was not the 529 persons who became sick that matters most. It  is the fact that 70% of the sick was under the age of five years and it was the naked truth that three children died, including the seven-month-old Steve Adams of Quarry Hill, two-month-old Zashada Bumbury together with the one-year-old from Amerindian village of Canal Bank.
The death of any infant in this day and age from vomiting and diarrhoea is one too many and it must be regarded as such by all of us. Even though the situation ought to be considered as one of crisis proportion, in the beginning, it was only brought to the attention of the general public from the private media, there was not a word from the Government or from the Ministry of Health. The Minister in his typical Oppan Gangnam Style boasted to the public that his Ministry had all under his control, even before the private media were notified of this crisis. That made it seems as if there was a deliberated attempt to hide it from the public, or probably the Hon.  Minister thought that is was not that important. Whether that was so or not, let it be known that the first death occurred on the 15th of February of this year and it was only during the last week of that month that the first medical team from Georgetown was dispatch to that area.
According to an official from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), one Dr. Lisa Indar, who the Hon. Minister referred to as a regional heavyweight, yet he referred not being in agreement with her, she was in Guyana at that time and said that the authorities were not aware that the outbreak was occurring in Port Kaituma because the Ministry is not getting information in a timely manner. This is so because there is a deficient syndromic surveillance system in Guyana. The Minister must recognise this; he must admit this and he must do all in his authority to correct this situation.
Just to let you know, Mr. Speaker, that the relatives of the dead had to wait for four months for the post-mortem and I must remind you that the morgue in Port Kaituma, where all the bodies have been stored, has a claim to fame of dogs eating the corpse, the bodies of the dead, as like the rats did at the public hospital in Georgetown, in morgue there. The water that the residents were supposed to use  for domestic purposes, bathing, cooking, brushing their teeth and most of all for dinking, including the water from far-reaching creeks and of the pipes from wells, was so contaminated with the E.coli, that is the bacteria. It was so contaminated that could not been test counted, the water was so murky and discoloured, it was so fill with silt,  and in some places the silt was making it difficult to flow as a liquid and as a consequent it causes the water pump to be broken.
It is a known fact that the bleach and the purification tablets are only effective if used in water that is clear in colour. If the water is discoloured and murky then the bleach and the tablet of purification would be of no use, and that was the situation in Port Kaituma. By the way, it is interesting to note that the cost of one litre of bottled water in that area is somewhere around G$1,000.
Persons in authority, for one reason or the other, seem to be looking for excuses for the water contamination so as not to put the blame where it ought to be placed. We heard of one of the most absurd reasons being that it was  some poisonous vine that the Amerindians used to poison fish. This they said was the cause for the water contamination and hence the illness. The villagers who lived there all their lives, the native of the area, placed the blame of the water contamination squarely on the mining activity in that area. Eventually, good sense prevails and there was a warning by the authorities for persons to desist from all forms of mining. This warning was, however, allowed to fall on deaf ears and no efforts were made by those in authority to see that their seize order was effectively carried by the miners. In other words, mining continues as if all was well and good.
We, only recently, saw how quick and effective the law enforcement agencies and the mining authorities can act when they so desired as was demonstrated amply by their actions, not so long ago, as was seen in worldwide on YouTube. I refer to the case in Marudi Mountains, in Region 9, with the mother and children protestors and the brutality they endured at the hands of those same agencies. For whatever reasons the authorities in Port Kaituma seems not to be motivated as they were in Marudi Mountains. Apparently, the flow of gold must have been the more important factor than the flow of potable water for the residents. One got the impression that even though three infants were dead and more than 500 persons were sick, gold mining had to continue, regardless of what were the consequences.
I take this opportunity to remind the PPP/C Government, especially the Minister, and his Ministry, who  is  responsible for mining of the native American prophecy of the Creek  nation. I quote:
“When you cut down the last tree, when you kill the last fish and when you have contaminated the last river you will only then discover that you cannot eat money.”
I would like to add on that you will only then discover that you cannot eat gold. That is why   I cannot continue without expressing my most sincere empathy and being in full solidarity with the heroic Akawaios people of Region 7,  Upper Mazaruni, of the villages of Kako and Isseneru, to encourage them to fight the good fight of the benefits of all mankind, not only for Guyanese, but  to preserve that pristine environment that was equated to them by the great spirit now deemed as  State’s lands.
The health authorities pointed that the long-term solution of the problem rests on sanitation and hygiene. This might be so; I do not dispute that. It is always important to have proper system of sanitation and hygiene, but while the grass is growing, not only is the horse starving, but babies are dying. I must point out to you, Mr. Speaker, that that is why in the first resolve clause, as you know, we must support this motion, states:
“BE IT RESOLVED:
That the National Assembly expresses its sympathy with the relatives of the deceased children and with the victims of the illness in the Barima-Waini Region...”
It was noticeable to note that, taking into consideration this resolve cause, the Hon. Minister of Health expressed his sympathy to the Jamaicans, not to the people in Port Kaituma. He did not. Thank you the Hon. Minister.
Dr. Ramsaran: Mr. Speaker, a Point of Order. This is so bare… I was almost being unparliamentarily. It reminds me a few months back when the…
Mr. Speaker:  What is the Point of Order?
Dr. Ramsaran: The Point of Order is that that is a blatant inaccuracy. I started off and I said, many times, although this is very painful, this, this and this. It reminds me of a few months back when he referred to the Tuskegee Experiment. I did not break that up. This is hopelessly inaccurate.
Mr. Speaker: The Minister, indeed, did on several occasions speak about how painful the lost of the children was. The Minister also spoke today about being better able, if I can put it that way with the English Language,... Minister, the point that I want to make to you is that you did not specifically extend... but I accept your explanation that the references to the painfulness were your way of expressing sympathy and empathising.  As you were reminded by the Leader of the Opposition, the English is a peculiar thing.
Dr. Ramsaran: I mentioned this at repeated press conferences…
Mr. Speaker: Yes, it was  at press conferences, but Dr. Norton was speaking about here.
Dr. Ramsaran: …the language was clear.
Mr. Speaker: But I accept that you did, in fact, show sympathy. You are right. On several occasions, during your presentation, you spoke about the painfulness of the deaths and of the lost.
Dr. Norton: I have no doubt and I commend the Hon. Minister of Amerindian Affairs. She did, in no uncertain manner, express sympathy to the relatives. I had no problem with that. I was listening for it because it is an important part of the resolve clause.
Sadly, there was no candle lights vigil for those three babies of Port Kaituma as they were last Sunday night at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in front of the maternity section for that baby and the baby’s mother who died there. I refer to that painful case, the Minister talked about pain, of Mrs. Rodney and her baby girl. I ask, what is becoming of the health system of this country?
If pit latrine and its locations are one of the main contributing factors to the contamination of the water by the bacteria that can kill people, then it must be forced to become a thing of the past. We must not wait for babies to die from contaminated waters from those latrines or another schoolchild to fall in and perish, as had happened in this region not too long ago, before they become abolished, once and for all, from all government buildings, especially school, health facilities and other public places.
The schools in Georgetown do not have pit latrines, likewise the schools in and Region 9 should not have pit latrines. This situation, as it stands at the moment, is blatant and naked discrimination in so many ways against the people of these regions. Just to remind you, Mr. Speaker, that, the little child who perished in the pit latrine, when the political party, in sympathy with the community, offered to build a flush toilet efforts were made from Members of this House to discourage the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of the school to accept it. That is something we should not remember.
I insist that there must be a national policy that any school without a functioning flush toilet must be deemed incomplete and non-functional. Not so long ago we read in the newspaper about the Leonora Hospital, not so far from here, was without a functioning flush toilet, and the baby in the fridge, of course. It is not strange that we seem to be having a national environmental health crisis. For it was only recently it was pointed out  to the public, by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, the Minister in particular, at one of his workshops, that the environmental health officers are found to be incompetent and are not functioning effectively and efficiently.
These officers must be made answerable for their shortcomings. It was reported that they failed to attend meetings, they do not monitor activities assigned to them and they are even accused of having an itching palm to turn a blind eye to wrongdoings. These are areas that need to be improved if the sanitary conditions in the villages in the Barima-Waini Region are to be improved. Persons would no longer become sick in such numbers. We must never forget that old, but relevant cliché that goes ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’.
We all in this House must support this Motion. It is not the first time that this has happened in this country, especially in the Barima-Waini Region. Less we forget, in 2009, in the village of Moruca the schoolchild perished in the pit latrine. We suffered the death of Calvin Charley, 32, and his mother Helena Charley of 63 years of age, also that of Albert Delacruz and Troy Turnhill, who was just a baby. They all died of similar causes as the three babies in Port Kaituma.
Mr. Speaker, during one of my visits to that Region, I vividly remembered when I held the sick infant in my arms, of a mother from Barabina Hill, who was sent home in tears with her baby from the Mabaruma Hospital with vomiting and diarrhoea to literally die after visiting that institution for a third time and the baby’s condition was not getting any better. It was becoming worse. The baby was dying, Mr. Speaker. Was there anything that could have been done to save the life of the baby then? Such a situation can only bring tears to the eyes of any human being. It was a baby like any one of our babies, if we ever had, who might have grown to become the president of this country.
Mr. Speaker, if you allow me, I would like to quote from Stabroek News, Monday, December 19, 2011. It is a statement that I think is relevant to the motion before this House. I quote:
“It would not be business as usual at the Ministry of Health. As according to the recently appointed Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, high on his agenda for the Ministry is the equity of access, value for dollar of investment, quality of service and clientele satisfaction.”
Mr. Speaker, I would like to question the Hon. Minister as to whether this is the equity of access and the quality of service that Region 1 is now receiving that the Hon. Minister promised when he took office.
The bleach purification tablets, the Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) solution, the advice of compulsory boiling of water for domestic purposes all appeared to be put in place too late to avoid this crisis, if it ever worked at all before. The authority seems to be waiting for this crisis to happen before these simple and obvious measures could be put in place for them to be enforced.
The efforts of the joint team of so-called experts from Guyana Water Incorporation (GWI), from Civil Defence Commission, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), EPA, GFC, Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and Ministry of Housing and Water were all too late to save the lives of those babies. The joint team of so-called experts literally missed the bus. These babies had to die first and 500 Guyanese had to become sick for them to be mobilised out of Georgetown. Probably they were on standby in Georgetown waiting in fear just in case something similar should happen here in Georgetown as it did in Port Kaituma.
I, personally, think that it is only a matter of time for a similar disaster to happen in Georgetown like that which is waiting to happen at Bartica in Region 7, Red Village near Suddie Hospital in Region 2 or at Mahdia in Region 8. This is so because Guyana and all of us Guyanese have now become the true champions, not of the earth, but of the dirt. The damage was done and is still being done at Port Kaituma. The water supply system that was promised by the CEO of Guyana Water Incorporated is yet to be delivered up to this day.
To avoid this happening again and more destruction and devastation in other parts of this country, I beg that we all support this motion which is clearly prescribed by the Constitution of Guyana at Article 36:
“The well-being for the nation depends upon preserving clean air, fertile soil, pure water and the rich diversity of plants, animals and eco-systems.”
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. [Applause]