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This is now a near annual event.....My understanding is that there are communities that surround the dump.. Brilliant urban planning!
600-plus flock hospitals, health centres in wake of latest Riverton blaze
GSAT schedule likely to be affected by Riverton smoke
BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Monday, March 16, 2015
A group of women make their way along Weymouth Crescent in the vicinity of the Riverton landfill after the early closure of business due to the smoke nuisance across the city on Friday. (PHOTO: LIONEL ROOKWOOD)
MORE than 600 people complaining of respiratory illnesses sought medical attention at public hospitals and health centres in the Kingston Metropolitan Region over the weekend, according to figures released by the Ministry of Health yesterday.
According to acting chief medical officer Dr Marion Bullock Ducasse, on Friday, March 13, health facilities in Kingston and St Andrew, as well as the Spanish Town Hospital and the neighbouring St Jago Park Health Centre saw a total of 345 people who were experiencing respiratory conditions, which based on their complaints, was as a result of the smoke being belched from the Riverton landfill.
She added: "On Saturday, March 14, 233 visits were made to our facilities... There were two admissions -- two at the national Chest Hospital and two at the Kingston Public Hospital. The National Chest Hospital was opened on Saturday and continues to work on a 24-hour basis. Today, [March 15] up to midday at our health facilities...teams have already treated 64 persons and this totals 642 visits."
She said the ministry took the decision to open five health centres -- four in Kingston and St Andrew and one in Spanish Town -- on the weekend to allow easy access to persons who required health care as a result of the worsening conditions. Bullock-Ducasse was speaking at a press briefing to provide an update on the Riverton fire which has been burning since Wednesday aftrenoon, and which forced businesses and schools in the vicinity to shutter their operations on Friday.
The Ministery of education reported, mewnwhile, that at least 10 students in each of the approximately 50 schools that were closed in Kingston and St Andrew, as well as St Catherine had to be sent to a clinic for treatment.
Dr Bullock- Ducasse stressed that no deaths have been reported or recorded to be associated with the event, and added that additional supplies and equipment, including nebulisers, humidifiers and pharmaceuticals have been provided to the main hospitals -- Kingston Public, Spanish Town, Bustamante Hospital for Children and the University Hospital of the West Indies.
She said further that the health ministry, in partnership with the National Environment and Planning Agency, is conducting air quality tests to determine the presence of particulate matter, which is material suspended in the air in the form of minute solid particles or liquid droplets, especially when considered as an atmospheric pollutant.
"This is being conducted now at the Bureau of Standards for which we will have results by this afternoon [yesterday] or early tomorrow morning [today]. Testing for other chemicals formed from volatile organic compounds will be expedited by a company in Canada, for which we will have results by Wednesday or Thursday," she said.
The acting CMO advised people to avoid the area near the landfill as best as possible, and to remain indoors and keep windows and doors closed. For those who have no choice but face the brunt of the condition, however, she advised that they cover their nose and mouth with a damp cloth while exposed. Those with underlying respiratory conditions are urged to take their medication or see a doctor at the first sign of symptoms such as shortness of breath.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education said yesterday that the schools which were closed on Friday as a result of the smog emanating from the landfill would remain closed today.
"The closure is to facilitate the clean-up of some schools and to determine their readiness for resumption, particularly those that are located within the immediate vicinity. We also want to avoid the to-ing and fro-ing of our children from home to school and back home, especially, while parents are at work," Elaine Foster-Allen, permanent secretary in the education ministry said.
Regarding the GSAT examinations scheduled for this Thursday and Friday, she said the ministry was awaiting a decision from Cabinet.
"The number of students likely to be affected is over 11,500 and we have just over 39,000 students in total sitting the GSAT exam. Some of the children who should be sitting exams on Thursday and Friday have already been affected by the smog. Were we to have the children in the rest of the country take the exam and the children in Kingston not take the exam, we are talking about having to set another exam. Can we move the children from the vicinity of the disposal site and place them in another venue? (That) is uncertain because we do not know which way the wind will blow on Thursday and Friday, and therefore those very children we are trying to move from one place to another may end up being affected," Foster- Allen said.
With regard to the severity of the fire, the Jamaica Fire Brigade said the blaze is under control and areas toward the north of the 120-acre landfill are contained.
600-plus flock hospitals, health centres in wake of latest Riverton blaze
GSAT schedule likely to be affected by Riverton smoke
BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Monday, March 16, 2015
A group of women make their way along Weymouth Crescent in the vicinity of the Riverton landfill after the early closure of business due to the smoke nuisance across the city on Friday. (PHOTO: LIONEL ROOKWOOD)
MORE than 600 people complaining of respiratory illnesses sought medical attention at public hospitals and health centres in the Kingston Metropolitan Region over the weekend, according to figures released by the Ministry of Health yesterday.
According to acting chief medical officer Dr Marion Bullock Ducasse, on Friday, March 13, health facilities in Kingston and St Andrew, as well as the Spanish Town Hospital and the neighbouring St Jago Park Health Centre saw a total of 345 people who were experiencing respiratory conditions, which based on their complaints, was as a result of the smoke being belched from the Riverton landfill.
She added: "On Saturday, March 14, 233 visits were made to our facilities... There were two admissions -- two at the national Chest Hospital and two at the Kingston Public Hospital. The National Chest Hospital was opened on Saturday and continues to work on a 24-hour basis. Today, [March 15] up to midday at our health facilities...teams have already treated 64 persons and this totals 642 visits."
She said the ministry took the decision to open five health centres -- four in Kingston and St Andrew and one in Spanish Town -- on the weekend to allow easy access to persons who required health care as a result of the worsening conditions. Bullock-Ducasse was speaking at a press briefing to provide an update on the Riverton fire which has been burning since Wednesday aftrenoon, and which forced businesses and schools in the vicinity to shutter their operations on Friday.
The Ministery of education reported, mewnwhile, that at least 10 students in each of the approximately 50 schools that were closed in Kingston and St Andrew, as well as St Catherine had to be sent to a clinic for treatment.
Dr Bullock- Ducasse stressed that no deaths have been reported or recorded to be associated with the event, and added that additional supplies and equipment, including nebulisers, humidifiers and pharmaceuticals have been provided to the main hospitals -- Kingston Public, Spanish Town, Bustamante Hospital for Children and the University Hospital of the West Indies.
She said further that the health ministry, in partnership with the National Environment and Planning Agency, is conducting air quality tests to determine the presence of particulate matter, which is material suspended in the air in the form of minute solid particles or liquid droplets, especially when considered as an atmospheric pollutant.
"This is being conducted now at the Bureau of Standards for which we will have results by this afternoon [yesterday] or early tomorrow morning [today]. Testing for other chemicals formed from volatile organic compounds will be expedited by a company in Canada, for which we will have results by Wednesday or Thursday," she said.
The acting CMO advised people to avoid the area near the landfill as best as possible, and to remain indoors and keep windows and doors closed. For those who have no choice but face the brunt of the condition, however, she advised that they cover their nose and mouth with a damp cloth while exposed. Those with underlying respiratory conditions are urged to take their medication or see a doctor at the first sign of symptoms such as shortness of breath.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education said yesterday that the schools which were closed on Friday as a result of the smog emanating from the landfill would remain closed today.
"The closure is to facilitate the clean-up of some schools and to determine their readiness for resumption, particularly those that are located within the immediate vicinity. We also want to avoid the to-ing and fro-ing of our children from home to school and back home, especially, while parents are at work," Elaine Foster-Allen, permanent secretary in the education ministry said.
Regarding the GSAT examinations scheduled for this Thursday and Friday, she said the ministry was awaiting a decision from Cabinet.
"The number of students likely to be affected is over 11,500 and we have just over 39,000 students in total sitting the GSAT exam. Some of the children who should be sitting exams on Thursday and Friday have already been affected by the smog. Were we to have the children in the rest of the country take the exam and the children in Kingston not take the exam, we are talking about having to set another exam. Can we move the children from the vicinity of the disposal site and place them in another venue? (That) is uncertain because we do not know which way the wind will blow on Thursday and Friday, and therefore those very children we are trying to move from one place to another may end up being affected," Foster- Allen said.
With regard to the severity of the fire, the Jamaica Fire Brigade said the blaze is under control and areas toward the north of the 120-acre landfill are contained.
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