BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 5, 2019– The residents of Orange Walk Town are beginning to direct their anger and frustration at the Department of the Environment, which, they say, has done nothing to address their concerns about the level of contamination of the New River, which is an important source of water and food for the town’s people.
Last month, the Deputy Mayor of Orange Walk Town, Ian Cal, informed Breaking Belize News that Program for Belize, the Ministry of Health and the Department of the Environment were conducting testing to determine the cause of the contamination of the river.
Cal promised to make the results of the testing public once they are completed.
Those samples, however, appeared to have not been completed, and in the meantime, the New River continues to have a green, murky appearance, and the stench of dying fish has been raising alarm bells among concerned residents of Orange Walk Town.
Fish have been dying in the New River at a frightening rate and residents are not sure if the water they depend on for their daily routines is even safe to consume.
Some concerned residents invited the media to the New River today, Monday, and they travelled for miles on the river and the scene remained the same for most of their journey — the dark green waters, which appears to be an annual phenomenon, but usually clears up when the rains start.
This year, however, the country has been experiencing a prolonged dry spell and that is evident in the condition of the New River, from which the stench has gotten worse.
Many Orange Walk residents, especially those along the banks of the New River, are up in arms and are calling on the Department of the Environment to do something fast to address the problem.
The owner of a tour company who depends on the river for his livelihood complained that this year the river’s condition is the worst that he has seen. The river appears to be lifeless, turning up dead fish every so often, and not even the crocodiles and birds are visible anymore, he says.
The extent of the problem stretches out for about 17 miles, from Carmelita Village to Trial Farm Village, where there are only milky green waters, in which there appears to be no life.
There are several businesses along the banks of the river, including the largest, BSI/ASR. All the businesses situated on the riverbank dump their waste in the river.
The stench coming from the river is affecting everyone, from residents to tourists. Of even more concern is the fact that the water pumps in Orange Walk Town are so close to the river that it is inevitable that water from there continues to be used by the residents of Orange Walk Town.
The conclusion is that there is something in the river that is killing the plants and wildlife around it, and the Department of the Environment has been slow in responding. As it presently stands, no one knows if the water and the fish and other wildlife in it are safe for human consumption.