The City Council says that the well-being of Georgetown residents is always given the highest priority and so a medical team will continue working in the communities affected by the Princes Street landfill.
In a press release issued on Tuesday the council said that it cannot guarantee that there will be no more fires at the dump because of the methane generation which provides the ideal condition for the fires at the landfill.
However the municipality has put measures in place to “monitor external conditions that can contribute to fire.” The burning of copper on the site will no longer be allowed and only municipality workers who are on official duty will be allowed on the site, the release said.
Meanwhile the release also stated that Minister in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran’s statements in the media concerning the City Council’s medical officer asking persons to evacuate their home, “lacks all the relevant facts.”
It said that the council’s medical officer Dr. Bizuayehu Jeffrey told residents on Friday that those with serious medical conditions such as asthma, infants and the elderly should seek temporary accommodation elsewhere if they could.
The release said that Dr Jeffrey never made a “clarion call” for residents to leave their homes.
It added also that the advice was given by Dr Jeffrey after she had a first-hand look at the situation and had exercised her sound judgment as the council’s medical officer of health and as a person trained in disaster management; therefore she has the “authority …to comment on such matters.”
