The volcanic ash being blown around Kingstown is a substantial threat to the health of our people, and should be urgently removed by the ULP regime. You can see volcanic ash all around Kingstown – on the pavement and in the roads and drains.
People have told The Leader of SVG Green Party, Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA, that even when they are wearing mask, they can still feel the volcanic ash being blown into their face and eyes. A mask is not enough to protect them from the ash being blown around. SVG needs professional advice and assistance in dealing with the removal of the volcanic ash in Kingstown.
Why is the highly incompetent ULP Regime taking so long to wash down the roads and pavements and drains in Kingstown? A man in Kingstown told the Leader of SVG Green Party, Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA, that the very least the ULP regime should be doing is getting truckloads of seawater and using it to wash down the streets and pavements of Kingstown. Can the ULP regime not see that we have plenty of seawater around us and it is free?
Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA is calling on the United Nations and the World Health Organization to immediately send experts to help deal with this problem. The ULP government is out of its depth and has shown no initiative in removing the volcanic ash from the streets of Kingstown.
According to the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network, volcanic ash can impact people’s respiratory system, eyes, skin and more. Particles in some volcanic ash are so small, they can lodged themselves deep in the lungs.
Exposure to volcanic ash can cause a variety of chest, eye, nasal and throat problems. For the general public, and people who already have respiratory problems, this may lead to coughing and shortness of breath.
SVG’s health system is already at breaking point and is not equipped to deal with a rise in respiratory health problems. Health facilities have been underfunded for years by the ULP regime. The ash needs to be removed immediately but it is quite obvious that the ULP regime lacks the competence to clean up Kingstown.
The disaster management preparations by the ULP regime have been appalling. We urgently need a new competent team at the Emergency Unit; people who have been adequately trained and are highly qualified, and more importantly, competent and professional.
The Leader of SVG Green Party, Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA, is very concerned and makes a strong call on the Kingstown Town Board to stop the old fashioned approach of brush, shovel and wheelbarrow, and urgently get a fire engine with full tanks of water and give Kingstown a thorough washing down with a pressure hose. The health of our people is being unnecessarily put at risk by the inaction of the ULP regime.