EWWW.
That was the reaction of my colleague at work when I asked her if she knew what washed up on the coast of Sitio Apro, Barangay Ibo in Lapu-Lapu City over the weekend.
I don’t want to know, she told me. Anyway, I saw the pictures, she said.
Well, I didn’t. See the pictures, that is. But I read what residents and sanitary inspectors found lapping on their rocky shores.
Hazardous and infectious medical wastes, according to Cenro Chief Rodirico Tagaan.
Among those recovered were syringes, needles, vials containing blood samples, kidney basins, reservoir bags and IV containers. A concerned citizen also called the media after she found a plastic bag containing test tubes with hepatitis B samples and adult diapers, among others.
So who wants to go swimming in Mactan this weekend? Anyone?
Ethelbert Ouano of the City Legal Office said the City would issue citation tickets to the two private hospitals if their explanations as to how their wastes got to the city’s shores were not satisfactory.
Really? A citation ticket? That’s like a slap on the wrist, considering the repercussions of the discovery to the city’s tourism industry not to mention the dangers the wastes posed to the health of its residents.
Can you imagine a visitor having a nice time out on the beach, getting a nice tan, feeling the warm sand underneath his towel and then, wham bam, he feels a sharp pin prick pain in his toe? When he looks to check, well, what do you know? A used syringe needle.
It’s a worst-case scenario, I know. But it could happen.
Heck, who would have thought that residents of Sitio Apro would wake up one morning and find medical wastes right on their doorsteps? Although they could rest assured that, according to Department of Health 7 Director Jaime Bernadas, bacteria from infectious wastes normally do not thrive in the sea because of the saltwater’s antiseptic qualities, but the operative word here is “normally.”
There were instances that it could thrive, Bernadas pointed out, especially if there were many contaminants, which, I guess, was the case in Sitio Apro.
I’m not a doctor, but I think residents should get themselves checked. At the two private hospitals where the wastes came from. For free. Just to be sure. They should not gamble with their health.
One of the hospitals already issued a statement, saying they’ve outsourced the disposal of their wastes to a Davao City-based firm. In other words, they had no idea how their wastes got across the channel.
Of course.