Five weeks after an oil-like substance mysteriously appeared in the bottom-flat home of a Parika, East Bank Essequibo family, they are awaiting soil test results while remaining fearful that there could be an explosion at any time.
Davo Bicessar, 38, a businessman, said that the substance passed through two layers of concrete and destroyed some of the tiles from the floor where it surfaced.
Bicessar is awaiting the results of tests from the Petroleum Division of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). The agency had sent samples of the soil to Trinidad for testing and promised to inform him when the results were ready.
Bicessar said he and his family had noticed that the thick carpet that was spread over the tiles, was disturbed. When they removed it, they discovered what looked like remnants of the oil present on the tiles and concrete.
According to Bicessar, “When we raised up the rug, it looked as if someone took a hammer and break up the tiles….”
Even though the substance has not been identified, he is still not taking chances, especially after seeing what happened at Diamond, East Bank Demerara last year. He was referring to an incident in June last year, where a resident was digging a well and it exploded and spurted water, mud and methane gas continuously.
It is believed that a pocket of methane gas exploded underground as a result of the drilling of the well.
Besides, Bicessar said, his cousin, Ivor Seepersaud, who worked with a petroleum company in Trinidad, told him that it was some type of gas. Seepersaud, he said, “has the experience and he knows about these things.”
He was told that if it erupts while they are sleeping, they can lose consciousness and that the consequences can be dire.
As a result, he and his wife, Lisa Bicessar, and their four sons, ages six to 15, have been sleeping together in the hallway. He said the boys, who attend a private school, could not go many days because they were unable to rest properly at nights.
After they made the discovery, the family had called ExxonMobil’s hotline to report the incident but was told that the company could not do anything. It advised him to contact the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Three days later, EPA officials visited and took a sample of the substance on a piece of broken tile but they told Bicessar that they didn’t have the facility to test it.
They also told him to “call the fire service” at Leonora and when he did “they told me that they were not trained for that process,” Bicessar said
The team from the fire service nevertheless checked the affected area. Two weeks later, the head of the fire service at Leonora “sent a crew to measure the building.”
After receiving no word from officials of the EPA, he called and they advised him to contact the Petroleum Division of the GGMC.
An official from the GGMC took samples of the soil from the eastern and western sections of the yard “because they could not touch inside….”
Before leaving the official took a lighter and lit the substance and he “got a vacuum from the gas.”
With no word on the findings so far, Bicessar’s family is hoping that they will be able to solve the case soon so that their lives can return to normal again and they can start their preparations for the Christmas season.
