noxious fumes in jamaica

By: Denise N. Fyffe.
Copyright © 2013, Denise N. Fyffe

Jamaica is not equipped to deal with these ‘noxious fume’ incidents.

There have now been no less three incidents which occurred in June 2012 – vicinity of Portmore Toll Road, November 2012 – vicinity of Spanish Town, Hagley Park and Molynes Roads – and now February 2013. The most recent occurrence of ‘toxic fumes’ which occurred in the vicinity of South Camp Road is a perfect of example. While, curious onlookers might be flocking to the area, to some of their detriment; some of us can look at the larger picture and analyze how the situation affects businesses and productivity, as well as the safety of our children.

Even though several schools in the vicinity have been closed including Holy Trinity High School, Convent of Mercy (Alpha Academy), Alpha Primary, St. George’s College, Kingston College, and Jessie Ripoll Primary; one wonders about the natural curiosity of these students and the ‘heart palpitations’ many parents are experiencing because their child’s/children life/lives are in danger.

While we are focused on the National Debt Exchange (NDX), tax hikes and $44 billion being siphoned off from NHT; we need to also be vigilant of national safety issues as well. The incident in the vicinity of the Portmore Toll Plaza made it abundantly clear that the people living in that municipality would be in grave danger if the fumes were a threat to life. Traffic was nothing short of being akin to a ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’. So great was the effect that drivers all over the Corporate Area were delayed for hours.

Clearly majority of the responsibility for preparedness and handling ‘biological and chemical incidents’ will fall under the jurisdiction of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management(ODPEM). Nevertheless, members of government and opposition, the media, the private sector and all citizens will have to play a role as well.

A National ‘Biological/Chemical Accident’ Programme should be developed, tested, implemented and publicized for and throughout Jamaica. This programme should incorporate all our agencies such as Fire Brigade, Police, Army, Hospitals, JUTC, Digicel, LIME and Media. Certain steps should be executed, on various scales; just as how measures are rolled out when a hurricane is approaching the island.

Our telecommunications network should be informed and authorized to send an emergency text alert. Digicel spams us with no less than one text message a day; surely they can accommodate an emergency text blast. JUTC buses should be deployed, if needed, to remove workers, residents and children from the area. This should be mandatory. The Army and Police dressed in protective gear if needed should be there to not only enforce law and order, but to drive emergency vehicles and buses as well. There should be primary and secondary hospitals indentified, where the victims are taken. Participating hospitals should be informed so that they can make adequate preparations. Where companies such as Petrojam are found at fault, they should take fiscal responsibility.

Our government has set their sights and reiterated that they are on the road to making Jamaica a first world nation. Still, we should not only focus on certain aspects of improvement like our economy, debt and murder rate. We should be First World in our response, investigation and disclosure of who is at fault for these ‘noxious fumes’ incidents.