An afternoon of fun for a group of boys ended in tragedy yesterday when one of them drowned in a “backwash lagoon” at the Guyana Water Incorporated’s (GWI) Central Ruimveldt Iron Removal treatment plant.
Up to press time last evening the child was unidentified, but Stabroek News was told that he was from the South Ruimveldt area. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Hospital where he was taken around 4.30 pm, some 15 minutes after he was pulled from the water, which was said to be hazardous. The boy whose hair was in corn rows was clad only in a pair of long pants and was said to be around ten years old.
When Stabroek News arrived in the area which is located aback of the Ruimveldt Well, a sizeable crowd had gathered and people were discussing the incident.
Two pairs of boys’ underwear were visible at the side of one of the two “lagoons” and according to those gathered one belonged to the drowned child. This newspaper was told that two other boys who were with him at the time ran away after he went under.
One resident said that despite repeated warnings for persons to desist from swimming in the ponds, there was what he called “a Phagwah wash down” earlier in the day where children, teens and even young adults were swimming and having fun.
He recalled that he saw about 15 persons in the ponds and he chased them. He later went out. When he returned home some time later, he heard the tragic news.
The man said that when the ponds were first put down there was no water in them. Young boys, he said, would ride in them. About two months back they were filled with water and they started swimming there.
“Look what it had to tek, eh?. A life. All de time people telling them don’t swim in there but they ain’t hearing. When dem guards talk, dey [the boys] cussing them up,” the resident said.
One boy, clad in underpants that appeared to be wet, was pointed out as one who was swimming with the drowned boy when he went under. Though his eyes were red and puffy, he denied knowing anything or being in the water when the drowning took place.
Another resident recalled that around 4 pm she saw more than ten children playing in the water. From all appearances, in the midst of the fun, the child was thrown into the pond and after he did not surface, an alarm was raised. The resident said that when she looked out, she saw when a man jumped into the water and after searching for some time found the lad, who was brought out. The woman said she went out then and saw the boy was lying on the concrete surface near the pond with a shirt over his face. People standing around were saying that he was already dead, she said.
However, the resident said, she and another person administered CPR and the boy vomited some liquid. He was then rushed to the hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
She opined that had the CPR been done immediately after he was pulled from the water, the child would have had a fighting chance at survival.
The resident told this newspaper that a lot of children often swim there despite the repeated pleas not to do so.
This newspaper yesterday noted the easy accessibility to the compound. Though there is a fence there is no gate and when this newspaper entered the compound, no effort was made to stop the reporter.
There were no danger signs visible, but residents said those trespassing on the facility had removed them.
When contacted for a comment last evening, the company’s Public Relations Officer Timothy Austin said he was aware of the incident but could not comment because the site had not been officially handed over to GWI.
He explained that the area is under the control of the contractor, United Earth Movers (UEM), until the works have been completed and the site commissioned. Austin told this newspaper that Mahendra (only name given) was the person in charge of that company. Though contact was made with UEM, Mahendra could not be reached for a comment last evening.
Less than a month ago, the GWI in a release had warned residents to desist from entering the area as it was fraught with hidden dangers.
Project Manger Ramchand Jailall had said in the release, “We have installed warning signs in several locations including the perimeter fence which continues to be recklessly destroyed by youths attempting to gain entry.”
GWI said it observed that youths of the Central Ruimveldt community continue to destroy portions of the fence surrounding the facility in order to gain access.
Eyewitnesses have also reported that young children have been observed cycling and performing stunts in one of the facility’s most hazardous areas, the “backwash lagoon”. Jailall had said “the backwash lagoon contains harsh chemicals which can cause severe harm should they come in contact with human skin.”
He said the GWI team including the project contractor have made numerous appeals to residents to guard against young children entering its compound as, the “backwash lagoon” which attracts most of the attention by trespassers, is highly dangerous. “In addition to containing harmful chemicals, the lagoon is 19 feet deep, and should a child fall, this could most certainly lead to death,” Jailall had said.