'Don't blame us for death'

Mom: Baby died due to traffic
Nikita Braxton South Bureau
Friday, June 12th 2009
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161489914

PROTESTERS against the construction of the Alutrint aluminium smelter at La Brea yesterday sent condolences to the mother who lost her one-month-old baby, but said they are not to blame for the incident.

President of the Union Village Council Elijah Gour said the residents were "very disturbed that the death of this child is being portrayed as having happened at the hands of villagers".

But the mother of the child, Melissa Thomas, of Sobo Village, La Brea, said she was not casting blame on the residents although she felt that her baby's life could have been saved if she was not delayed by traffic caused by the protest action.

"I am not saying that they are to blame, but they should think about what they are doing. Others are being humbugged," she told the Express yesterday.

Thomas said she was trying to get to the Point Fortin District Hospital after she found her baby lying motionless on the bed on Tuesday morning, having found him stuck between the mattress of the bed and the wall. The baby was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. A post-mortem on the child-who Thomas said she intended to name Joel -revealed he died from oxygen deprivation. Baby Joel was Thomas's seventh son.

However, in a release yesterday, Gour said had the residents known there was an emergency, they would have cleared the road and asked the police to escort Thomas to the hospital.

"If at any time this situation was brought to the attention of the villagers, we would have certainly intervened," he said.

Gour said there were two points of protest at Sobo Village and Union Village, La Brea. He said he was unsure at which point Thomas said she was in traffic, but had Union Village residents known, they would have assisted in getting her through the roadblock. He said the police also had the power to take charge of emergency transportation during a protest action. Police officers said they assisted the 30-year-old woman with a siren escort to the hospital.

Thomas believes to prevent someone else from facing a similar situation, officials should communicate with the residents.

"The Government and the member of Parliament should talk to the protesters to rectify the situation, so that everyone would be comfortable," she said.

Villagers who live around the estate initially began their series of protests with a complaint about their relocation, but were then joined by others who were demanding jobs and others panicking over their long-term health after news that 4,000 of them would have to be tested for cancer.

Gour said they intend to continue highlighting their concerns.

"Our peaceful and legal protest actions are aimed at protecting our lives and children's lives from sickness and death that is associated with the Alutrint smelter," Gour said as he disputed that the residents were protesting for jobs at the smelter plant.