Exhaust has left Cat Island workers "sick"

By MINDELL SMALL,Guardian Staff Reporter mindell@nasguard.comA faulty exhaust system in a generator at The Bahamas Electricity Corporation's power station in The Cove Cat Island, is causing workers to become 'very' sick, said disgruntled employee Alvin Brown.

Mr Brown, the chief shop steward in The Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEMU) represents the power station's 11 workers.

He told The Guardian Monday that the employees have been getting sick because they had to constantly inhale the toxic fumes, leaking into the work area from the generator's exhaust.

He explained that the situation was so bad that some of the workers could no longer properly carry out their duties, as they now have to take time off to nurse respiratory problems, including a possible case of bronchitis.

"Everybody has been affected, especially the fellas in the control room and those who work in the office," he said.

"Some of the symptoms we're having from it are unbearable. The fellas are always coughing. One fella sneezed and brought up black phlegm out of his nostrils."

Mr Brown noted that an engineer, after inspecting the generator, noticed that the exhaust fumes were leaking into the building from a pipe inside the aging generator, not seeping into the building from outside as previously thought.

He added that the problem was not new as employees at the station were working in a "more manageable" smoky environment for more than a year.

"Now, you can hardly see someone standing in front of you, that's how bad it is. The black dust is on the floor and whenever you walk, you can see your footprint on the floor," he said.

"The fumes from the engine are coming into the control room and into the office right now. Inside the control room is very, very smoky."

The chief shop steward further noted that the union wrote BEC in July 2004 about the problem and requested that someone from the power company in Nassau travel to Cat Island to fix the problem.

"But they didn't. They put some fans in and a new AC, but the AC vents turned black. They just bought a brand new cooler and it turned black. They put pictures on the wall and they turned black," he said.

"For the last three to five days, it has gotten worse. It is inhumane now to have our members in this condition. We are awaiting word from the union now on what to do."

The angry Cat island workers, a part of the 900 BEMU members, are already four days into a go-slow, which reportedly stemmed from the corporation's failure to execute provisions in an industrial contract it signed two years ago.

BEMU Secretary general, Stephano Greene, said BEC has failed to honour five contract provisions filed by the union at the Department of Labour. These include safety in the workplace issues, the employee pension scheme, salary anomalies, the management of working hours and contract breaches.

BEC's area manager for Cat Island, Chris Francis, who lives in Nassau, was said to be on vacation at the time. The corporation's general manager, Kevin Basden was not available for comment up to press time.