Anger at lack of water plan
I am calling on Mayo Co. Council to act immediately to prevent the movement of boats and pleasure craft from areas affected by the cryptosporidium parasite to Mayo’s main source of drinking water, Lough Mask.
Council sources have confirmed that cross comtamination in this way is a possibility. However, the local authority is relying solely on the goodwill of boat owners in this regard. I think this is unacceptable.
I have consistently argued that the protection of our water supply is just as important as the building of roads and other infrastructure. The reality is that Mayo Co. Council still does not have a plan in place to protect our waterways. Its approach in terms of the prevention of a water crisis is slipshod and dangerous.
At a recent meeting of the Council, it was confirmed that the cryptosporidium parasite could, in theory, be transported to our main source of drinking water via fishing boats and pleasure craft. Unbelievably, nothing is being done to prevent this. I want boats from areas affected by the cryptosporidium parasite to be prevented from entering Lough Mask until Mayo Co. Council or the HSE can be certain that they have been cleaned thoroughly.
We cannot afford to have the drinking water that supplies Castlebar and a large section of the county contaminated with this bug. The farming community dealt with the Foot and Mouth crisis in a very effective manner. The same diligence must be seen in action in this case.
The government itself has delayed implementing the EU Water Framework Directive. The Water Services Bill, which is required to implement the directive, was published over four years ago, but has not yet been enacted. I also believe that the long term objective of Fianna Fail and the PDs is to see the privatisation of water supplies in this country and this is part of the reason why crucial investment was not made. This is why we still have 13,000 families in Mayo without a clean source of drinking water. This is why we have many of these families living with the fear of the deadly ecoli parasite contained within many of our group water schemes.
Ends: Harry Barrett 087 9713268……see minutes of most recent council meet re water monitoring and the movement of boats etc.
I am calling on Mayo Co. Council to act immediately to prevent the movement of boats and pleasure craft from areas affected by the cryptosporidium parasite to Mayo’s main source of drinking water, Lough Mask.
Council sources have confirmed that cross comtamination in this way is a possibility. However, the local authority is relying solely on the goodwill of boat owners in this regard. I think this is unacceptable.
I have consistently argued that the protection of our water supply is just as important as the building of roads and other infrastructure. The reality is that Mayo Co. Council still does not have a plan in place to protect our waterways. Its approach in terms of the prevention of a water crisis is slipshod and dangerous.
At a recent meeting of the Council, it was confirmed that the cryptosporidium parasite could, in theory, be transported to our main source of drinking water via fishing boats and pleasure craft. Unbelievably, nothing is being done to prevent this. I want boats from areas affected by the cryptosporidium parasite to be prevented from entering Lough Mask until Mayo Co. Council or the HSE can be certain that they have been cleaned thoroughly.
We cannot afford to have the drinking water that supplies Castlebar and a large section of the county contaminated with this bug. The farming community dealt with the Foot and Mouth crisis in a very effective manner. The same diligence must be seen in action in this case.
The government itself has delayed implementing the EU Water Framework Directive. The Water Services Bill, which is required to implement the directive, was published over four years ago, but has not yet been enacted. I also believe that the long term objective of Fianna Fail and the PDs is to see the privatisation of water supplies in this country and this is part of the reason why crucial investment was not made. This is why we still have 13,000 families in Mayo without a clean source of drinking water. This is why we have many of these families living with the fear of the deadly ecoli parasite contained within many of our group water schemes.
Ends: Harry Barrett 087 9713268……see minutes of most recent council meet re water monitoring and the movement of boats etc.
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