Three weeks ago, thick black oil washed into the Godineau swamp with the evening tide.
The oil blanketed the mangrove roots, killing the crabs and oysters which lived between the roots. Since then, crab and oyster vendors who made a living in the swamp have found their pickings slim and are now crying out for assistance.
During a tour of the swamp yesterday, president of the Crab Catchers and Oysters Association of South Oropouche, Kishore Ramsingh, said the vendors desperately needed help. “We make a living out of this swamp and the last oil spill come and damage our livelihood and we are looking to get someone in authority to see if they could help with a little compensation because this is we living here. “All the crabs dying, all the oysters dying, we don’t know what to turn to...to get a dollar to go by,” Ramsingh said.
As the boat made its way down the river, a black oily substance was seen on mangrove roots. Ramsingh said the vendors reached out to State-owned oil giant, Petrotrin, but said: “Nobody never came to us to tell us anything. Everything just go to deaf ears. We asked to get officials from Petrotrin (to visit) and nobody give us a reply yet.”
Although the vendors are seeking compensation from Petrotrin or monetary assistance from the Government, Ramsingh said they were not asking for much. “We just looking for a little compensation so we could survive for the next few months. We don’t expect the Government or the company to pay us for life. If we get a two or three months compensation so the chemicals and oil could die off from the soil so we could get back to our livelihood again,” he added.
He said with the new school term around the corner, the vendors were hoping for a speedy response. “School opening just now, plenty people you seeing here right now have books to buy. We have children to send to school. We have groceries to buy and right now it hard, it very hard. If anybody could help we, with a little grocery even, we would be very thankful,” Ramsingh said.
Doodnath Mayrhoo, Member of Parliament for Fyzabad, said he was hoping the matter will be raised in Cabinet today. “This is something of national importance and the Minister of Agriculture (Clarence Rambharat) should take this first-hand and address it because there are people affected from Central all the way down to Cedros. “We are hoping tomorrow at their Cabinet meeting that this is discussed and Government comes up with a plan that will assist the fishermen, the crab catchers and the oyster vendors,” Mayrhoo said.
He said on Monday a letter was sent to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley asking for his intervention.
“We called on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture to do what they could to assist those fishermen. We are seeing first-hand the pollution where oil has come up and stuck against the oyster shells and the crabs and all other creatures in the mangroves,” he added.