Residents of Affiance on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) have been complaining to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since last year about the fumes emanating from an auto bodywork shop in the village but to date, nothing has been done to address their concerns.
According to the residents, the fumes emanate from the spray-painting activities at the workshop and they pose a danger to the residential community.
One resident, Devika Singh, believes the workshop needs to be better sealed to prevent the chemicals from circulating in the area.
“Only one side got zinc and it got a big space at the top and at the bottom of the zinc,” the woman, who spoke on behalf of other affected residents, explained.
“I have children home here from school because it ain’t have school and them not getting to breathe and so properly when them [workshop workers] spraying,” the woman added.
For Singh, the situation is intense since the workshop is located about 5ft from her home.
The woman said she raised the matter with the EPA since last year and she even spoke to the workers, but nothing has been done to correct the situation.
In fact, the woman said she followed up with the EPA last week but is not satisfied with the progress made. The woman said from the information provided by the EPA, the organisation is in the process of sending a warning letter to the operators of the bodywork shop.
“They said the letter deh in process. They told me that the letter is out of their hands and the letter is in somebody hands who got to sign it…,” the woman explained.
Singh indicated that she is not interested in shutting down anyone’s business but she just wants the operations to be done in a more environmentally-friendly manner.
“At least they could like do up the shop more because the whole front side doesn’t have nothing and the other side doesn’t have nothing,” the woman explained.
Singh said she has been living in the area for some three years but it was only last year, when the autobody shop began to offer spray-painting services, that residents began to complain of the operation.
When contacted on Friday, an EPA officer said information on the incident is confidential. However, it was explained that when problems of this nature are brought to the EPA’s attention, an investigation would have to be conducted – inclusive of a site inspection – before any other actions are taken.
Efforts by this publication for a comment from the owner of the auto bodywork shop proved futile.
