Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon has called for the immediate closure of the uncapped Nooitgedacht access road in view of concerns over new findings of unsafe levels of arsenic, zinc, nickel, and chromium there.
At the statutory meeting of the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LMTC) on September 4th, 2024, Town Clerk Lennox Gasper was tasked with sending correspondence to Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill to make him aware of this. This was not done. Gasper is on record saying, “Correspondence was not sent, however, I did engage the minister.”
Minister Edghill denied this before a meeting with stakeholders on October 12th,2024. “Let me be clear, this is the first time I’m hearing of this. So nobody could say I knew about it and didn’t respond,” Edghill said.
The situation has escalated due to increased traffic on the road, which has become a primary route for residents since the closure of Castarina Drive for the Mackenzie/Wismar bridge project.
During an interview with Stabroek News yesterday, Solomon stated, “This is a toxic situation. The road should be capped before the bridge is finished. Along the stretch of road, we have some of Linden’s oldest residents. With the increased traffic and dust production, it poses serious health hazards.”
The issue came to light after it was revealed that materials sourced from the aluminium plant deposit waste area had been used illegally on the road. Solomon highlighted that this road is maintained by the Ministry of Public Works, therefore it is the responsibility of the ministry to reprimand the contractor who engaged in this illegal and hazardous act.
A member of the LMTC, Councillor Waynewright Bethune stated that the problematic materials have been in use for at least two months. “… The material that they keep using is the material from the aluminium plant. Recently, about two months ago, I took it upon myself to sample the material,” Bethune said. “I got the results a week ago. I did share it with the councillors at the last meeting. The fact that we’re closing the other streets and forcing people to drive there will increase the dust in the air. I had BOSAI doing some capping on some other roads previously. That road should be capped as soon as possible.”
He said there could be serious health concerns, since the potentially harmful concentrations of heavy metals that could pose significant risks to both children and adults.
The results of the testing show alarming levels of lead, arsenic, zinc, nickel, and chromium, all of which exceed the safe limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to the results seen by this newspaper, two samples had concentrations of 61.03 ppm and 62.09 ppm of arsenic. The safe limit is below 25 ppm. As regards zinc, samples revealed the presence of 115980.03 ppm and 88379.25 ppm; with safe levels of 300-400 ppm. Samples revealed nickel concentrations of 691.27 ppm and 191.64 ppm. The safe limit is below 100 ppm. Finally, though the safe limit is 100-120 ppm, testing revealed chromium levels of 1005.36 ppm and 1061.54 ppm. The level of toxicity of these elements expose residents to respiratory and allergic issues, skin lesions, chronic lung and kidney problems, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases among other problems.
During a meeting with the minister on October 12, Solomon emphasised the urgency of addressing the toxic materials. “This does not only mean more toxic dust for the communities near and far but for all those who will now have to use this road,” he warned.
Edghill has since pledged that his team will conduct their own testing and will make necessary adjustments to ensure public safety. “You can give us the materials, and the lab results let us check,” he said. “We don’t want to put anybody’s health in danger… if the materials used are causing problems, we need to have a look at that.”
Meanwhile, Solomon criticised the minister’s plan to sprinkle water on the road to mitigate the dust, asserting that such a measure would be ineffective amidst significant traffic congestion.
“Throwing water on the road with a truck in front of long lines of traffic demonstrates a lack of foresight,” the Mayor stated. “If the Town Clerk had communicated this issue sooner as he said he had, we could have pursued a more effective solution.”
On October 13, Solomon issued a statement on Facebook acknowledging that the first phase of the bridge project would cause public inconvenience but requested understanding and cooperation from the community. Despite assurances from Edghill that the bridge, contracted to China Rail, would be completed sooner than the projected two years, residents remain concerned about their safety.
