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Dust from Cement bond forces cancer patient to wear masks in home
…as EPA promises to investigate after four months
Kaieteur News – A cancer patient who resides at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD) is now being forced to wear masks in her home, as a result of air pollution caused by the dust particles permeating the atmosphere as a result of a nearby cement bond.
The windows of the Herstelling family’s home covered in cement dust
The ailing woman’s husband, Fazil Zaman, recently reached out to this newspaper after being ignored for months by the regulatory state body, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to the man, he wrote a letter to the EPA since July of this year, but has gotten no response.
The frustrated man said, he even visited the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in a bid to get some relief for the woman who is presently on treatment.
The man explained, “I living there for the past 15 years but like three years ago, this businessman buy a piece of land and put up a cement bond. The noise is extreme and the heavy machines when they work they shake up the whole house”.
Although he is affected by the noise, Zaman noted that the real issue is the cement pollution.
“I can’t open my house doors, the windows or anywhere. My house inside is full with cement dust. I reported the matter to the EPA, my son wrote them a letter and they keep saying that they are coming, they coming, but they never came.”
Zaman said, “I report the matter to the NDC but they don’t even want to come and visit my place because them and the man so close. Everybody just makes promises that they would come but nobody came,” the perturbed man complained.
He noted that due to his wife’s illness, she also suffers respiratory issues and the cement dust only makes matters worse.
Another section of the family’s home blanketed in cement dust
“She getting a lot of breathing problems and she just got to lock up whole day and deh in the house. She can’t come out. If she wants to come downstairs she have to put on masks because of the cement dust.”
Zaman told Kaieteur News that his wife was diagnosed with stage three Cancer back in March this year.
Public Relations Officer at EPA, Kwesi Isles, told this newspaper that the department is in receipt of the complaint and is scheduled to visit the area today to investigate.
Isles said he wished to thank Kaieteur News for bringing the issue to the attention of the EPA and acknowledged that the agency presently has several complaints backlogged that require attention.
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