A shocking discovery of infested drinking water tanks at the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) Mangrove Pond landfill in St Thomas led to a work stoppage on Friday amid workers’ fear their health could be compromised by the latest in a series of issues there, Barbados TODAY has learned.
When the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) went to fill two potable water tanks at the landfill on Wednesday, the workers discovered a severe infestation of millipedes and hog lice.
Dissatisfied with management’s response to the discovery, many workers on the 6 a.m. to midday shift were off the job, Barbados TODAY understands. Some workers reported feeling ill and left the compound while others stopped work.
The workers also reported that there was a “cohobblopot of issues” unrelated to the latest health hazard that they were also pressing management to address but it had become the proverbial last straw.
“On [Tuesday] we had a problem here where we weren’t getting any water so the workers were at a standstill,” Terry Carter, the spokesman for the Unity Workers’ Union-affiliated landfill workers told Barbados TODAY at the site. “When the water authority came with the water tanker to restore water to the tanks… [and] opened the tanks, we saw the infestation of the [hog lice] and millipedes inside the tanks. Look on the ground, this is what came out of the tanks. All the millipedes that you see around here, these were infested in the tanks. They said it was unsafe to fill the tanks and use the water. We notified the supervisor and then he spoke to the superintendent.
“The water truck was stationed here [Wednesday] and we were given buckets so if we wanted to use the bathrooms we could flush.”
Carter explained that the tanks were cleaned the following day but the workers were still not satisfied as the water filtration system was not cleaned and they were sceptical about using the water.
“The water ain’t good enough for us, we can’t be using this water,” he declared. “Although they cleaned the tanks, the filter was still brown when we took it out this (Friday) morning; everything in there [is] still stink.”
The two tanks which supply potable water to the offices stationed at the dump are normally connected to a nearby main.
Carter said staff were informed that the tanks were there for more than 12 years and this was the first time they were cleaned.
The UWU spokesman said workers were disgusted, in shock and worried about their health.
“You know how much of that water we drank daily? It’s a health hazard. Although the water is restored, as they say, this still ain’t healthy water. It can’t take nothing out of management to put water coolers here so that the water that we are drinking isn’t coming through this system because this isn’t good enough.
“We give Barbados 100 per cent. Everybody’s always talking about how good sanitation is, how good sanitation workers perform but this is what we get from management. We get praises but we ain’t getting praises from management with these kinds of conditions.”
General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Richard Greene told Barbados TODAY that he too was disturbed by the news of the water system when his members reported the matter to the union.
He said while his members withheld their labour, it should not be considered a strike.
“NUPW has been in contact with the shop stewards at the Mangrove landfill and they have informed us about the circumstances in which they would have had to withdraw their labour. They are working with the management of the SSA with the support of BWA to bring some relief to that situation. It is technically not a strike but obviously because of the conditions work could not go on as normal,” he said.
Carter also highlighted some of the other concerns workers have with the facilities: two bathrooms are unusable as the area where they are located had caved in, forcing the workers to use the single bathroom in the guard hut; the doors on the recreational facilities are broken, providing little to no privacy; and the furniture is in a state of disrepair.
He also reported rodent and termite infestations throughout the main staff facilities and an outpost stationed inside the landfill. He also called for an urgent industrial cleaning of the guard hut. The workers also asked for a power washer to help maintain a clean workshop.
The workers said they were informed there would be a meeting with the operations manager on Monday.
In a recorded statement, SSA Public Relations Officer Carl Alff Padmore denied that there was a work stoppage or strike at the landfill. He added that management was aware of the issues workers highlighted and some would be remedied in the short term and others in the long term.
