COUGH...COUGH...SMELL THE SULFER AND SOOT

BC ‘signs’ for premature death of 180 people under the fumes

WILLEMSTAD – Commissioners Eugene Rhuggenaath (Finance, PAR), Dennis Jackson (Education, PAR), Charles Cooper (Infrastructure, MAN) and Gimena van der Gen (Public Health, PNP) consciously agreed with the constant pollution of the Isla-refinery, while acquainted with the fact that at least 18 people per year die prematurely due to this.


The four commissioners signed a refusal of the Governing Body (BC) to force the Isla-refinery to comply with the protection standards in the licence under the Nuisance Act and agree to point out the residential areas in which the health standards may be exceeded for another 10 years. They did this, while the last study by order of the BC indicates that at least 18 people die prematurely per year due to the standard-exceeding emission of sulphur and soot over the neighbourhoods.


In a LAR-case against the BC, the Clean Environment Foundation in Curacao (SMOC), together with the Humanitarian Care demanded that the BC must force the Isla to comply with the licence under the Nuisance Act. Even though Judge Joop Drop (Nice name...is that Deputy Dog's neighbor?) decided in his verdict of July 19th of this year that the BC should revise this decision, because it is unbalanced and careless and was taken without a thorough consideration of the interests, the BC still refuses to do this. The BG appealed the verdict, but before the appeal is served, the BC decided again that the refinery will not comply with the licence under the Nuisance Act. This was put in writing to both instances’ lawyer, Sandra in ‘t Veld.


“The BC states in the decision it took this week that the official allocation of the so-called non-attainment areas will soon be done with. Those are the areas, where according to the BC, the Isla is exempted for another 10 years from complying with the superseded air quality standards of the current licence under the Nuisance Act. This means that the Isla can continue doing what it is doing and according to the BC, is not exceeding the standards, so there is no reason for acting against the Isla.


While the last study done by Ecorys-Nei by order of the BC made mention of 18 premature deaths per year, consequence to the Isla. Ecorys-Nei also mentions that this estimate is actually low and that the real number of premature deaths per year due to the refinery is higher”, says SMOC. “The licence under the Nuisance Act that was given to the refinery, is almost 10 years old and the standards included in that Act are from 1994. Just add the next 10 years that the BC is now planning to legalize, and you have 20 years of structural and unacceptable standard-exceeding with a total of more than 100 premature deaths. This is a political scandal that takes human lives."


The foundations cannot understand that a PAR-commissioner of Education that should be coming up for school children can act so reprehensible to approve the agreement. “While it was the PAR and the current Premier Emily de Jongh-Elhage that at that time was commissioner of Public Enterprises and had ordered the study of Ecorys-Nei, that repeatedly said that the Public Health comes first, same as Van der Gen of Public Health. It now appears that the interests of PdVSA are coming first and the life and health of our own people come last”.