By Mark Gibbons
Over recent days, I have been contacted by a number of workers at Warrenpoint Harbour who have raised serious concerns about conditions inside the port and harbour estate.
I have carried out my own checks and satisfied myself that those who contacted me do work at the harbour and live in Warrenpoint. They have asked to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, but they want the public to know that this is happening and that conditions are getting worse.
The issues brought to my attention include:
• The persistent and, in their words, increasingly unbearable odour around the harbour.
• Reports from harbour employees of breathing difficulties, with workers expressing concern that these may be linked to RDF spraying operations.
• Claims that the smell around the box factory has been particularly severe in recent times.
• Concerns that valuable quay space is being taken up, affecting long-established timber operations, and that some timber vessels are now using other ports.
While I cannot independently verify every allegation that has been made, the consistency of the concerns being raised means they cannot simply be ignored – as the concerns of the people of Warrenpoint too often have been.
If you would rather not report your concerns to me, you can report them directly to the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland using the form below. You can choose to submit it anonymously and you do not have to give your name:
https://www.secure.hseni.gov.uk/forms/complaint.aspx
And if you work or live in the vicinity of the port and are experiencing any new or persistent health problems, please report them to your GP, and make sure your GP records that you work or live near the port.
I will be raising these issues with the appropriate authorities and seeking clear answers on behalf of those who have contacted me from within the port. If any other harbour workers wish to speak with me in confidence, my door is always open.
The people of Warrenpoint have been living with these odour issues, flies and concerns about spraying for a number of years. Now, a growing number of harbour workers are saying they simply cannot take it any more.
When workers themselves are saying ‘enough is enough’, those responsible for those workers should be listening. Their voices deserve to be heard, and their concerns deserve to be taken seriously. The people of Warrenpoint and those who work at the harbour deserve far better than this.
Every MP, MLA and councillor should also remember one simple fact: we work for the people. The public gives us the privilege of serving them, and when they raise genuine concerns, our duty is to listen, to act and to stand up for them, not to look the other way.
With Assembly and council elections coming next year, accountability is coming too. Those representatives who chose to bury their heads in the sand while these concerns were repeatedly raised should not be surprised if the public remembers when they cast their vote.
Representatives need to finally side with the people, who are the majority, not with the power-hungry and money-hungry few, and rid Warrenpoint of this blight once and for all.
ENDS
CLANRYE NEWS 