The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I recently saw a copy of a “report to the nation” on the Rubis fuel spill in Marathon. According to this very pretty, nicely produced report, the ministries of Health and Environment have given the residents of Marathon a “clean bill of health”.

What a relief! I had such a bad feeling about this whole saga, particularly after it came to light that the government knew about the dangerous spill for two years, but told the public nothing.

For a while there, it seemed like the health and safety of the residents of Marathon was not high on the priority list for this government. It seemed like all they cared about was keeping things quiet in order to avoid the blame.

But now, with this report, all our concerns are gone. Now we can rest easy knowing that the relevant ministries have looked into the matter, and have concluded that we can all relax. Thank goodness!

I am of course being sarcastic. Who do they think they are fooling? What else but a “clean bill of health” would the residents of Marathon get from two ministries with a serious vested interest in making this scandal go away?

Where are the independent reports, the opinions of local and international doctors? What about the early indications that several residents had been exposed to unacceptably high levels of cancer-causing chemicals?

Instead of independent reports and realistic assessments, what we get is a pie-in-the-sky happy ending, a glossy PR puff-piece produced by Bahamas Information Services, which is supposed to be a public service news agency, but instead operates as a propaganda machine for the government of the day – spinning stories to swing the public, and then sending us the bill to pay for it!

Anyone who has been following this Rubis spill story from the beginning knows that according to independent doctors, it will take years to get a realistic take on whether or not residents were placed in harm’s way. I submit that the happy new report is not worth the paper it is written on. I have a feeling that most Marathon residents will agree.

TOM PAINE

Nassau,

November 11, 2015.