WESTERN BUREAU:

The residents of Ramble in Hanover have rejected the findings of noted consultant, Dr. Ravidya Burrowes, saying that she has a personal axe to grind in the matter.

"It is an open case of 'you scratch my back, I scratch yours'," said one executive member of the Ramble Community Development Committee (CDC), who did not wish to be named.

In a recent government-commissioned Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), Dr. Burrowes concluded that erecting a cemetery in the community would not impact the water supply, which has been the primary concern of the residents.

"Yes, the water will be safe for consumption," Dr. Burrowes said in responding to queries by The Gleaner during the public session held in Montego Bay on Sunday. "In terms of acceptability, the World Health Organisation has established a number of criteria when building a cemetery, and the cemetery in question is well within those parameters."

In rejecting Dr. Burrowes' pronouncement, the residents contend that her decision was as a result of her involvement in a proposed project in Hanover, which will require government approval. "Thatclaim is ridiculous; the internal procedure in NEPA (National Environment and Planning Agency) does not allow for that kind of trade-off to be done," she countered. "If I felt there was a conflict of interest, I would be the first one to step down."

$3.8 million contract

Dr. Burrowes and her consultancy firm, Environmental Management Consultants (Caribbean) Limited, were awarded a $3.8 million contract to conduct an assessment on the site after The Gleaner brought the issue to national attention.

In a previous study, Basil Young, a geologist with over 37 years' experience, said if the chemical, formaldehyde is used in the contentious $50 million Burnt Ground Cemetery development in Ramble, Hanover, it could spell disaster for the over 36 communities that depend on the water source in the area.

"The embalming process involves cutting the cartilage arteries of the corpse, taking out the blood and replacing it with about 50 per cent concentration of formaldehyde, then you open the gut and you fill everything with the chemical," he had explained.

"When you add chemicals to the body and the agents of decomposition take place then you will have a pollutant, and this pollutant must not get into your water," he said emphatically.

Contamination of the water source in Ramble would be by way of leakage of chemicals from bodies, such as the much-feared formaldehyde, ammonia and bacteria escaping from graves or vaults entering sub-surface streams.

The proposed cemetery site reportedly forms part of the Great River watershed, which is slated for expansion to link Great River to the Martha Brae water supply, which will serve as far as Discovery Bay in St. Ann to the east, and Negril in Westmoreland to the west.

Only three members of the Ramble CDC attended the public meeting, which according to Dr. Burrowes, was relocated to Montego Bay because suitable venues in the community refused to accommodate the public meeting before April 24. She said that no one was willing to assist her to facilitate the meeting.