And before the San Victor showdown, the big story coming out of the Orange Walk District this week was the cancellation of classes at La Immaculada, Orange Walk's biggest primary school. That's because the stench of the polluted New River is making them sick.
The Ministry of Health has investigated the extent of the problem, and they have recommended that classes cannot operate at that location, under these conditions.
But, school has to continue one way or the other - and so what's next?
Well, there are now discussions to temporarily relocate the school, while the harmful effects the New River's pollution is being directly addressed by the Department of the Environment.
Today, Education Minister Patrick Faber spoke about the options being explored to continue classes at a different location next Monday:
Hon. Patrick Faber - Minister of Education
"You saw this week, that we made a decision to close school for the rest of the week, and that was because we first waited for advice from the DOE, and of course, the Ministry of Health. Once we were able to get that advice, we supported the closing of the school, and of course, we don't know how long this situation will exist there, in Orange Walk. But, we prioritize the health of the children as #1, and so, we will study the situation as we go along. I think it's safe to say that the situation will not be cleaned up by Monday. And so, we've asked the school to come up with a contingency plan, a plan that will see the children be relocated to other areas. I know that the school is working on this. I know that our ministry is involved with this. I know that requests have been made, for instance, to use the Orange Walk Sporting Complex, and maybe even the other field that is there, the covered area so that we're able to host makeshift classrooms even so that the children don't lose out. They've already lost so many days this week, and we don't want them to fall too far behind, because of course, this may lead to another problem. How do we make up that time down, and you know how difficult a journey that can be because it's not necessarily anybody's fault, in terms of those in the education sector. So, we're going to try our best, and I want to commend the principal, the staff, and also the wider management of La Immaculada because they've taken this matter very responsibly. They can continue to be assured of the Ministry of Education's support to provide a good, safe environment for the children. And, they can be assured of the wider Government's, the Ministry of Health, and the Department of Environment, so that we can try to get the situation back to normal, get the children back to their regular classrooms as soon as is possible. You've heard the DOE say that they've now embarked on the cleaning exercise, where they will try their best to get rid of some of the dead fishes and other organic materials from out of the river."
A press release from the Department of Environment says that it is trying to mitigate the harmful effects of the river's pollution - mainly to aerate the river, to skim some of the sludge on top of the river, and to dispose of the fish kill.
The DOE says, quote, "Some immediate solutions…are…the use of Aluminum sulphate and Effective Micro-organisms which when inputted into the stagnated sections of the river near to settlements, is expected to improve the water quality…It will also likely result in an immediate burst of hydrogen sulfide that will last for a while before dissipating. The smell of rotten eggs is expected to then go away after this burst. Another immediate solution being employed is aeration of the stagnated areas using pumps. … These solutions while immediate, are not going to overcome the overwhelming influence of the drought affecting the New River and will not make it flow again. Only rain will accomplish a return to normalcy as we know it." End quote.
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