A local doctor is weighing in on the recent problems plaguing Worthing Beach in Christ Church, and is contending that there remains more questions than answers.
Recently, authorities from the Ministry of Health, the Environmental Protection Department, the Barbados Water Authority and tourism officials held a press conference at the Hilton Hotel to provide an update on the situation. However, Dr. P. Abdon DaSilva, whose practice is located in close proximity to the beach, charges that “something does not add up” in relation to the findings released on the tests performed on the water quality. Moreover, he is questioning why the authorities chose to adopt the standards of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which relates more so to temperate waters and may not be best suited for tropical waters as exist in Barbados.
He went further to suggest that in using the EPA standards, the authorities here should ensure that the standards are followed to the letter. He explained that there are two criterion used – the first is based on a statistically sufficient number of samples, no less than five, equally placed over a 30-day period where the geometric mean of Enterococcus does not exceed 35 colony-forming units (CFU) per 100 millilitre and the second is based on maximum illness rates of no greater than 19 incidences of illness per 1000 swimmers.
“The tests done by the Public Health Laboratory were not equally spaced over a 30-day period. The samples were taken to my knowledge on December 5, 7, 12, and 14, if we are talking about a 30-day period and equally spaced, they cannot be done randomly. So you cannot talk about geometric means of Enterococcus and not carry out the samples in the way the guidelines tell you to do it. Furthermore, bacterial colonisation in a laboratory requires at least 48 hours of incubation, and any colony count reported before that period cannot be a true representation of fact,” he noted.
Dr. DaSilva added, “I have seen data from the tests and it is not enough for me to draw a logical conclusion. Anybody who is consuming that information ought to be able to look at the information and understand what is happening. I might be able to appreciate it a little better than others, but what about the average man on the street; does it make sense to him?”
Turning his attention then to the South Coast Sewage Plant which has been at the centre of the problems being experienced along parts of the South Coast and Worthing Beach, he said sewage has been coming up from several manholes in the area for some time now when there is heavy rainfall, and he is questioning why it has taken so long for the matter to be addressed.
“Do we always have to respond to crisis? Not only crisis, because it seems that this time they have allowed it to go from a crisis to a catastrophe. Also, we are talking about water quality, but have we made any attempts to rehabilitate the beach and the surrounding environs? The fact is that sewage contamination is not just about health, it is about the environment as well,” he stated.
He is also adamant that the sluice gate needs to be upgraded to ensure that when there are heavy rains and the water level in the Graeme Hall Swamp rise, it has an avenue to run quickly into the sea. DaSilva believes that in this modern age no one should be manually operating the sluice gate; rather it should be a mechanical gate that functions automatically in response to pressure levels. (JRT)
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