-following drownings at Enchanter Creek
In the wake of the incident where two girls drowned on Sunday at Enchanter Creek, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, in an emergency meeting on Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre challenged operators to immediately incorporate safety and security in their operations.
The Home Affairs Minister in his opening remarks stated that enough attention is not given to safety. While understanding the need for striking a balance between both operators and visitors, he asserted that both parties should play a vital role in ensuring safety.
According to Benn, creek operators should have lifeguards at the locations to monitor and oversee the activities. Some basic regulations that were suggested included signs that state what activities are restricted and unrestricted, and highlighted restricted areas that should be secured with a barrier. He warned that if the operators are not equipped with the basic requirements for a functional creek, then they should be “shut down.”
The minister expressed a strong desire for improved safety measures at popular water sites. He emphasised the need for clear signage at these locations, alongside the installation of life rings and small life rafts. Also highlighted was the importance of providing safety equipment for children, such as flotation devices for their arms, to ensure their well-being while enjoying water activities. Additionally, he proposed that areas with shallow water, particularly those no deeper than three feet, should be clearly barricaded to prevent accidents and enhance safety for young swimmers. If measures are in place and people choose to do the contrary then it is different compared to if things are not in place, Benn added.
“I would like to see signage go up at those places now. I would like to see at every place that they are life rings, maybe a little life raft and other things for when children go into the water the little things you put on their arms and the places where they can safely paddle… three feet of water maybe the most, that it is barricaded. I would like to see those things being done this week. If we put them in place then people do foolishness out there then that’s a different matter but we don’t seem to have anything in place”, he lamented.
Operators were also encouraged to have committee group meetings to properly assess their facilities. The meetings will help to promote growth among the operators. It is expected to have diverse and shared ideas combined to help better the facilities. The authorities will also engage the operators to help promote safety.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson, posited that in order to operate a successful business, safety and protection should be a priority. Ramson added that the responsibility is on the owner of the facility, opining that if an immediate response mechanism was in place the incident could have been avoided. He warned that operators are not only exposed to civil claims and liabilities but also criminal negligence.
“I’m appealing; also going to warn you as well that you expose yourself not just to civil liabilities and civil claims but there is also something called criminal negligence. That’s an offence, that means all of you wherever those offences occur, you’re exposed. I am telling you that because should that be pursued, you now are personally exposed. That means that you can face jail time in situations like that.”
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told the meeting that of all the recreational facilities that exist along the Linden/Soesdyke Highway corridor, only ten are registered in the system. However, these ten facilities are currently not permitted, since their permits have expired. The facilities are now in the process of renewing their permits. There are several other which are unregulated. Among some of the facilities along the corridor, the lands are not legally owned by some operators and the EPA can only provide permits to the land owners.
Senior Occupational Health and Safety Officer in the Ministry of Labour, Roydon Croal, outlined recommendations for the facilities, including lifeguards, trained divers, emergency personnel on standby (nurse, doctors), floating devices, trained first-aiders, an emergency response plan, breathing apparatus for divers, safety signs and warning signs for designated areas.
What was meant to be a birthday celebration, turned into a day of mourning after two cousins drowned at Enchanter Creek, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, on Sunday afternoon.
According to police, 10-year-old Akira La Rose of Lot 95 Stewartville, West Coast Demerara, and 11-year-old Joylyn Jack of Lot 1726 Tuschen, West Coast Demerara, reportedly died by drowning at approximately 15.30 hours at Enchanter Creek, on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.
Enquiries revealed that Allison Klass, 53, the grandmother of the two girls, and other family members, including Oswald Jack (Joylyn’s father) were celebrating Akira’s 10th birthday at Enchanter Creek.
It was alleged that the two girls were playing in the water but were later discovered missing. An alarm was raised, and a search party later found them in the water, unresponsive. They were taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre by the police and civilians where they were pronounced dead on arrival.
No marks of violence were found on their bodies.
The children’s bodies will be transported to the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home for post-mortem examinations, as investigations continue.
