Residents plead for help as they lament stench from Dredge Bay fish kill

Residents in the Dredge Bay area are calling on the government or “some” authority to come to their rescue and clean the water of dead fish following a recent fish kill which they believe is linked to a molasses spill from the Antigua Distillery Ltd.
OBSERVER media visited the area where the pungent odour has been permeating the atmosphere for several days and residents lamented how badly it has been affecting them.
“Down here is worse than down by the market,” one resident said. “Nobody can sleep, nobody can eat because the whole house is stink and all our surroundings is stink down here just because the people and dem who don’t want to realise down here is a breeding ground for the fishes.”
According to the man, it is impossible to do laundry since the stench is “sticking” to the clothing, linen and “everything”.
He added, “The hole is still blocked and no fresh seawater coming in and all the fish and eel dem dead; nothing in this lagoon is alive. It is a breeding ground for fish and nothing is alive. There was a hole and a part whey dem have to dig for fresh seawater to come through and the hole is still clogged from since Monday when we report this situation here. They say the prime minister talked about it and nobody mekking no move.”
Abdul Abbott, another resident, said the lagoon, surrounded by mangroves, is a breeding ground for lobster, fish, shrimp, eel and other sea creatures.
“It is a problem over the years where the ground swell brings in the sand and blocks the entrance and all I am asking is assistance from the government or the Environment Division or fisheries to come down and if they need me to come with them or share my thoughts to get it done to open a passage where the fresh sea water goes in and out and it gets blocked up after a while with sand,” he said.
“We need to get together and put a barrier with some boulders on the western side of it so when the sand comes in with the ground swells it stays behind of it instead of coming in and blocking the entrance.”
(More in today’s Daily Observer)