...when we drove near to Treasure Beach and just when we passed the Police Station? No one seems to know. Smells like chloroform.

You are smelling great pond

You are smelling and breathing poisons currently used to sterilise the soil and kill all insects in sight as part of growing vegetables and fruits.

All allowed by the powers that be.

pesticides

Old Visitor
I think you have hit the nail on the head and I am indeed glad that TB Net has posted your response.
This chemical smell has been a concern for many years and we would like to know what can be done about it. Yes, the farmers do have to make a living but are there any suggestions as to some other method that might be used to control insects and pests and eliminate the inhalation and consumption of these chemical products ? Too many people are dying from chemical related illnesses. It would be great if something could be done to decrease the use of these dangerous pesticides, not only in TB , but throughout the world.

Over to you Pesticide Control Authority, RADA. Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Saint Elizabeth Parish Council, NEPA and all responsible.

http://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/cars06/36968.html

How much more and why do we not hear of this?

There is a meeting with all the above I think next week. It would be good if anyone who will be there could bring this up among the too many cooks.

Would this be tolerated say besides Jakes? Just asking.

As long as it is not illegal to spray with these chemicals it has to be tolerated no matter where it takes place.

Those chemicals are in widespread use all over Jamaica, including ALL OVER Treasure Beach. I have seen people spreading the unmixed powder ("poison") with their bare hands. Masks are supposed to be worn when spraying the chemicals, but this is often ignored. Even if the user wears a mask, the air gets fouled and obviously spreads. There is a high amount of asthma and other respiratory problems in TB; though I have no medical training, I am putting one and one together and coming up with two.

What Rebecca says is 100% correct. The chemicals are legal and thus must be tolerated.

As Health is one of the important factors to satisfy Tourist Board requirements, how does the Board view this revelation?

Or did they know the visitors are breathing poisoned air?

Too many cooks indeed.

Ms Kennedy,

Am I to understand that because the chemicals are legal they have to be tolerated? I think not. This kind of pollution is killing people and if someone or some organization comes forward and stand up for human rights, this does not have to be so. Are we just going to sit back and say we do not have a say, we just have to tolerate it? This just does not make sense to me. I think we need to let our voices be heard on this matter.

Okay Concerned, so what are you going to do about it? Please let us know and maybe we can come on board and help you.

Are many people dying from insecticides? Is asthma rampant in TB? Considering the prevailing climatic conditions,it seems unlikely that the effects of spraying could be so significant.
How many people actually spray in TB below the Police Station? Exaggeration seems to be at play, yes?

Ms Rebecca,

I am not a resident or a native of TB, just a concerned visitor. I would however be willing to join the bandwagon in helping to do what it takes to keep the residents and visitors safe, when it comes to chemical pollution.

I have no idea how many people are "dying from insecticides." I doubt the Jamaican Government does; if they did, they might be forced to legally curtail or stop their use. And, I sincerely doubt that will happen.

I doubt that exaggeration is at play when it comes to the number of people who are using these insecticides. The use of them is widespread.

There are health problems that are fairly common in Jamaica--and in Treasure Beach. Asthma is certainly among them. Diabetes is another, though I doubt it's related to insecticides.

Whether or not people "know" that organic is the best way to go, this is tempered by reality. That reality is money. We have all seen people do their best to plant and grow crops--and lose money almost no matter what they do. A small farmer (such as what you find in Treasure Beach) frankly cannot afford not to use fertilizer and insecticides. Those alone are in no way a guarantee of raising a crop that yields even a basic subsistence. One of the big variables is the lack of water and/or the uncertainty of a sufficient water supply. The weather is another unknown variable. Finally, there are very large producers on-island who manage to almost always undercut the small farmer; they have established buyers who are ready and willing to buy what they produce, leaving the small farmer to fend for themselves when their crops are ready to bring to market.

The situation is not hopeless, but it is as far from straightforward as it might appear at first glance.

Thanks Karen K. First time ever someone has spoken of the trails and tribulations of the small farmer. I once overheard a tourist lecturing a local man of the dangers et al of pesticides getting angry at the 'perceived,' nonchalance of the farmer to the risks. The tourist didn't know that the man had just lost a crop he'd worked hard on for several months and he hadn't used any pesticides but felt the need to use them in future to try to 'mek it work.'

An answer to the smell problem may well be the drying out of the great pond as "smelly" suggests.

No one has commented on this possibility so far.

I have smelled the Great Pond in the past and it may be the suspect in this case. Come over to where I live in the UK and you will be able to regularly smell animal muck being spread on the local farmland and it is not pleasant but the smell only lasts 24 hours or so.

As for chemicals; they are not ALL dangerous and it should be borne in mind that were it not for agricultural chemicals and fertilisers the world will not be able to feed itself. Don't damn them all; just make sure that approved ones are being used in and around TB.

Find out from the farmers themselves and post the name and type of chemical on the TB website and sure as eggs is eggs someone will be able to find out if it is banned internationally or is safe for general use.

If it smells like chloroform that seems like Great Pond.Chemicals don't have that smell. I was in Treasure Beach in January and I didn't see any wide spread use of chemicals.From below the Pedro Plains Police Station to Billys Bay I didn't see much farming.The few I saw were so small that they are barely visible. The biggest one I saw was at Great Bay beside Long Pond.Maybe the bigger ones are remote.Chemicals are bad for our health so they should be proportionately mixed and all the necessary precautions taken to lessen the risk to humans and animals.It's a difficult situation because the farmers need to get their crops and people need to stay healthy

Does Jakes not get their food from an organic farm? If so, it works. Why cannot others.

Yes, who is to teach?

Most of our visitors ask for organic food.

And no it is the same smell as after Cross Road. Pesticides. It's not the pond, it's dry as a bone and aroma free, just walked over it.