Four years after a study found that villagers of Parabara, in the Deep South Rupununi, had high levels of mercury exposure, they still remain in the dark about the significance of the discovery, with many going about their lives as they always have.
“We only keep hearing of mercury poisoning… but nothing is wrong with people… everyone still eats the fish and most people drink from the river and everything continues as normal,” resident Sarah Jerome told Stabroek Weekend.
Sarah’s sentiments are the same as those of many villagers, who told this publication that they do not fully grasp of the findings.