Chicken pen furore: Hope/West Enmore businessman claims EPA already addressed issue

…claims residents trying to shut down establishment

Following a report made by several residents of Hope, West Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD) of stench and air pollution caused by a large-scale double-deck chicken pen in their neighbourhood, the poultry farmer, who has since been identified as Kevin Adolphus, is now publicly defending himself.

Last week, a resident of the area, who wished to remain anonymous, had claimed that the issue has been affecting the community for quite some time. However, the situation rapidly escalated after the poultry farmer decided to ramp up his operations by expanding the chicken pen to a two-storey structure.
According to the resident following the discomfort, multiple members of the community had reached out to the poultry farmer to resolve the situation. However, these efforts failed due to alleged hostility displayed by the mother of the business man.
Following these efforts to peacefully resolve the situation residents had moved to authorities such as their Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and the main agency responsible for dealing with matters of such nature, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
However, the residents had expressed their dissatisfaction with these two entities stating that both bodies have neglected the issue.
In a follow up interview with this publication on Sunday the business man denied these claims. According to Adolphus following the complaints made by some of the residents, the EPA, among other agencies, had visited his home several times.
“EPA would have visited me many times, not two site visits, Sanitary would have visited me, Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) would have visited me. All the establishments you could think of would have visited my location, and they have no issue with me, no; they have no issue.”
The business man added, “Last week, Sunday, they’ve been going around and reaching out to all the Ministers and whoever, when they have outreach, explaining the situation to them and every time they would reach out to one of the Ministers, the Ministers would send the relevant agencies to come and look at the situation when the people come and look at the situation, they find no problem, no fault with me.”
The poultry farmer is alleging that a family living some 100 feet from his establishment are the main ones behind the smear campaign he added that they are planning on opening a mechanic shop and as such is trying to get his business shut down.
“These people have come and reached me at this location here – all the kids grew up here, how many years and nothing bothered them. They want to open their house and they want to open a mechanic shop behind of my pen and that is where the issue came from.”
Moreover, Adolphus suspects that his business has been attacked by the residents, the business man revealed that since the recent back and forth with the residents, a letter was sent to him from the NDC asking him to halt operations shortly after which his livestock has mysteriously began to die.
“My chickens have started to die 30-40 chickens keep dying. I would have contacted GLDA. GLDA would have come, collected samples, take it to the lab, give me a bunch of antibiotics. I got about four or five vet come. Look at the birds they said that, medically speaking, they can’t explain when they did the blood test, they found toxins in the bird blood.”
He added, “after receiving the letter from their contact at NDC, and I said, I’m standing my ground, I’m not closing because this is covetousness, nothing is bothering them and shortly after now, I’ve been rearing chickens for years, and nothing happened to my chickens and all of a sudden now, they started to die.”
The businessman, who has been rearing poultry all his life, told this publication that he will not allow his neighbours malicious attempts to shut down his business succeed.
In a bid to get more clarity on the situation this publication has made efforts to contact the Head of the agency, however these efforts remain futile.
The EPA has a mandate to take necessary steps for the management, conservation, protection, and improvement of the environment. As such, it takes steps to prevent or control pollution; assess the impact of economic development on the environment, and promote sustainable use of natural resources.
Over the years, one step the Agency has taken is to develop regulations, strategies, action plans and guidelines to support its efforts to curb some of the more persistent environmental issues. This week, we will examine the EPA’s Environmental Guidelines for poultry rearing.
The EPA in 2022 had released guidelines for persons desirous of rearing poultry. According to the agency If you plan to set up, or are operating a poultry rearing operation with 500 birds or more, then you need to apply to the EPA for Environmental Authorisation.