Residents warned to stay away from Dennery river

Friday, February 12, 2010 – Residents of the Dennery Valley are being strongly advised that in order to maintain and sustain their health and that of the families, they should avoid human contact with the water of the Dennery River.

This information is coming from officials of the Integrated Watershed and Coastal Area Management (IWCAM) Project Office located in the Dennery Valley. Community Liaison Officer with IWCAM Ananaias Vernueil, says testing under the project has proved that the water quality is poisonous.

“The water is polluted. The river water in the valley is very polluted with bacteria. There are areas where we sometimes get 88,000 counts of Eccoli and the bureau of standards is saying that recreational water quality should be less than 200 counts.”

He says this high level of pollution is due largely to bad environmental practices and unplanned development.

“We have the adhoc development of piggery units—some of them were not even sanctioned by the ministry—people just go there and do what they feel like without approval. Essentially, one needs to design a piggery unit to get rid of waste material. What we have there [in Dennery] is that many people locate pig pens right next to the river.”

The Integrated Watershed and Coastal Area Management Project Office says they are utilizing varying techniques such as the wetland system to try to bring some level of oxygenation to the polluted water but most importantly, there is need for urgent behaviour change by the people concerned.

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