By Aviso Paul
A man has been left nursing injuries to his foot after he was reportedly bitten on Monday by a piranha at the Splashmins Resort, located along the Soesdyke\Linden Highway.
Stabroek News attempted to contact a representative of the resort yesterday for a comment but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has informed that a meeting has since been scheduled to discuss the matter.
The injured man, 29-year-old Ravindra Compton, of East Bank Essequibo, yesterday spoke with this newspaper and he related his experience when he and his family ventured to the resort.
Compton explained to Stabroek News that after arriving at the resort they went to a benab next to the water where they spent a few hours and as they were enjoying the atmosphere he felt something bite him. He said immediately after, he saw blood, which left him in shock, since to his knowledge his foot was never touching the ground in the water and so he figured it could not have been a cut that he had sustained.
“We arrived there like after twelve on Monday…me and my family and everything was normal, everybody was in there around the water and so on and then later on while I was there I feel something bite my foot, I know it couldn’t be a cut I get because my foot wasn’t touching the ground, it was in the water yes but it wasn’t touching the ground and I feel something bite my foot and I start see blood… so I tell my family check and when they check they said it was a bite after that everybody started to get scared and panic.”
Compton said that although he didn’t see the piranha, he suspected that it was the fish since the injury showed the trace of sharp teeth similar to that of a piranha.
The injured man went on to say after the incident, he was immediately brought out of the water by his family members who then summoned a female representative from the resort.
“When my family went and call one of them from the resort, a woman come and she just take a piece of bandage and bandage it up and then my family went back to them a little later and they gave them twenty thousand… well I didn’t know they get the money because is they went and talk to them, is till when I reach the hospital is then I know they give us the money to help with medical attention… they also gave us two numbers to call them back and tell them what happen and they collect our numbers”, he said.
“I went to a private institution on the West Coast because that’s where I live, if we had gone to Woodlands where they suggested it would’ve take longer with all the traffic in Georgetown, so we went somewhere closer after it happen,” added the man
The following day Compton said that he decided to call the resort to see what else it had to say concerning the incident and a male representative who did not identify himself answered the phone. This person informed him that what had happened was not the company’s responsibility and stated that the area where the incident occurred belongs to the government.
“Nobody never call we back to find out anything… is I call them on Tuesday to see what they would say… a guy answer the phone but he didn’t really identify he self… and then he turn and tell me that what happen there is not their responsibility that it’s state land and that if I don’t know that fifty feet from the water is Government reserve.”
He added that the representative further informed him that some time ago a jet ski had run into the fence and that might have been how the presumed piranha entered the waters of the resort.
On his Facebook page, Compton questioned the representative’s statement about the area belonging to the government, “… now my point is if it’s state land [then] why do we have to pay to use that area? Why did the resort fence include that area on their property and make people pay to enter…?”
The injured man said that since the incident the bite continues to bleed heavily and he is unable to walk making it difficult to get to work as well as go the hospital to receive daily dressing. As such, he and family have been paying a nurse to dress the bite at their home.
“You could see that it is clearly a bite mark with sharp teeth, I can’t walk, the foot bleeding a lot, I does have to call a nurse to come home and dress it because I can’t go anywhere, they does gah actually lift me up,” noted the man.
Although he suffered the injury at the resort, the injured man said that it doesn’t scare him that much but he is however concerned for the wellbeing and safety of other customers, especially children.
“It doesn’t bother me that much but the thing is people take their children there and they play and bathe in the water so it’s important that they do something about it.”
Stabroek News yesterday contacted the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and according to its Communications Officer, Cordell McClure, the ministry is aware of the incident and has scheduled a meeting at the said resort for today where the matter will be discussed and a way forward will be determined.
This newspaper also contacted the resort twice and on both occasions a female answered and she said that the person authorized to speak about the incident was in a meeting and advised the reporter to call again today.
