Vance River, La Brea, residents living near the oil-polluted river that four-year-old Caleb Hart fell into are now calling on Petrotrin to set up a medical camp in the community as residents continue to fall ill.
Yesterday, a backhoe supervised by Petrotrin personnel was seen dredging the river running along Fortune Mc Cathy Street, which is a street away from where Caleb lives.
Caleb slipped on a narrow bridge near his home at Fitz Lane on his way to school and fell into the thick oil-slicked river on Wednesday.
He was rescued by his father, but covered from his neck down in mud.
While residents were relieved that Petrotrin was finally cleaning up the oil spill which appeared in the river a month ago, they were very concerned about their health.
Aba Antonio said other children and even adults are suffering from a range of health problems which they believe is a result of breathing in the gaseous oil compounds and physically coming in contact with the oil.
Antonio recalled her nephew Jabari Antonio, seven, slipped on the river bank in his school uniform and fell into the oil last month. She said since then an itchy rash has broken out on the child’s back and abdomen.
She said Petrotrin was informed about the incident, but has done nothing.
“Only Caleb’s mother got medicine from Petrotrin doctors to use on him because he too was getting a rash, but no one else.”
Aba’s sister Abebe showed T&T Guardian a rash on her arm, saying, “I have this about three weeks now and it scratching. Is because of the oil. I went to Vance River beach two days ago and I could not bathe because it had plenty oil.”
Another resident, Natasha Mitchell, a mother of six children ranging between 18 years and three months old, said her children are also being affected.
She said her son Wendell Paul, nine, has been experiencing blurred vision since the oil appeared in the river which is opposite their home. “He has pain in his eyes which has dark circles around them. Two of my daughters’ asthma only acting up. The fumes very strong. I does get bad feeling, I feeling weak. You actually tasting the fumes.”
Mitchell said she called on Petrotrin to provide medical treatment for her family and help them with their medical bills.
Antonio’s blind father, Karvin, said, “Sometimes I have to close my eyes because they burning, my nose burning from the fumes.”
Residents said Petrotrin should send a medical team in the village to conduct tests and provide medication for the residents. They also complained that their MP Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre has not contacted or visited them.