-No toxic Cement Facility in our Residential Areas- Our Community.
-As our country embarks on this new phase of our development, let us protect our Communities too. Let us build ‘bright, sustainable, empowered communities’ for the residents of Guyana.
-Legislation to ensure there is a buffer zone for Industrial Activities to protect ALL of our Communities.

We, the residents of the Felicity, Happy Acres, Le Ressouvenir, and Atlantic Gardens residential communities, object to, and express our concerns over the proposed cement facility in Felicity & Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara.
 
The proposed location of this facility poses significant risks to our community, including exposure to harmful air pollutant emissions associated with cement plants. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has substantiated these risks, finding that the cement sector is the third-largest industrial source of pollution, emitting more than 500,000 tonnes per year of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide. Cement dust plumes are inevitable and are far-reaching especially because of the air flow and Tradewinds on the Coast.  Hundreds of citizens and residents who have been living in these densely populated residential areas for decades will be subjected to breathing in one of the deadliest kinds of air pollution- Particulate Matter which is linked to serious health conditions, including reduced lung development in children, higher rates of asthma, bronchitis, heart disease & cancer.
 
In its report[1], the US EPA identified health and environmental impacts associated with cement plants, which explicitly links cement plant exposure with detrimental respiratory effects. These include:
·      Nitrogen oxide can cause or contribute to various health problems and adverse environmental impacts, such as ground-level ozone, acid rain, and water quality deterioration. Affected populations include children, people with lung diseases such as asthma, and exposure can cause damage to lung tissue.
·      Sulfur dioxide can affect breathing and may aggravate existing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
·      Carbon monoxide can cause harmful health effects by reducing oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues, as well as adverse effects on the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. CO also contributes to the formation of smog (ground-level ozone), which can cause respiratory problems.
 
Additionally, heavy-duty trucks loading and offloading will cause noise pollution while waiting to pick up as many loads every day, emitting even more pollutants like black carbon and nitrogen dioxide. These trucks will tear up roads, drainage ditches and other infrastructure. Attempts to water down the dust may end up creating an ugly muddy slurry that tracks all over the affected communities. 
 
We are concerned about the health risks from these detrimental air-quality issues, especially in such close proximity to our homes and our families. For these reasons, we strongly believe that the plant's proposed location is wholly unsuitable for the intended purpose and firmly assert our objection to the approval of this project.
 
We are available to answer any further queries your office may have in relation to this objection.
 
Yours faithfully.
 
 

[1] Accessed at https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/cement-manufacturing-enforcement-initiative on September 24, 2021