Smoke caused by Suriname drought affecting Upper Corentyne residents

A thick smoke cloud suspected to be as a result of drought and fires in Suriname is affecting residents living in the vicinity of the Upper Corentyne, Region Six. The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kemraj Parsram on Wednesday said authorities in Guyana and Suriname are monitoring the situation.

According to reports from Suriname, an ongoing drought in the Wageningen, Nickerie district caused fires that are posing a major health risk in the area. Authorities in Suriname are actively working to remove dry grass to prevent the fire from spreading but the smoke moves with the wind’s direction and has now entered Guyana’s atmosphere.

“This is happening in Nickerie. Official investigations reveal that due to the dry weather in that area, there’s a wildfire but they are also doing further investigations because there could also be some inappropriate practices, burning paddy fields that may add to the situation,” Parsram told the News Room.

Meanwhile, Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Colonel Nazrul Hussain told the News Room that the Regional Disaster Response Mechanism is activated with several disaster risk management agencies also monitoring the situation.

The smoke cloud started affecting residents on Tuesday but according a resident living at Skeldon, the smoke cleared up by 08:00 hrs. Then on Wednesday, the smoke became thicker and took longer to clear. It is affecting persons from #63 Beach to Crabwood Creek.

“The smoke has been affecting the Upper Corentyne area especially those in Line Path…yesterday morning, I went out there like around 05:30 hrs and I smelled the smoke, and it was very suffocating.

“This morning again, I saw that the smoke was high, more intense, I even had a slight headache and if you go out, you get watery eyed,” a resident told the News Room on Wednesday.

The resident said her husband and son have sinus issues and have to wear face masks.

Schools and other offices had to be closed due to the impact of the smoke and persons with serious health risks are advised to evacuate the Port Moraunt area.

The big question of how the problem will be further tackled is still to be known as the EPA and its Surinamese counterpart, National Institute for Environment and Development in Suriname (NIMOS), are trying to figure out whether humans are adding to the impact of the drought.