Today, many people will make merry for Christmas. But for Marabella crab catcher Nandlal Beharry and his family there will be no Yuletide joy because of the oil spill in the Guaracara River.Yesterday, Beharry, 66, of Bayshore, Marabella, said since the oil spill on Sunday he has not been able to earn a living because the crabs in the mangrove near the river have been covered with oil.
The man, who pointed to three of the 15 crab traps he was able to salvage from the mangrove near the river, said for a third day straight he returned home empty-handed yesterday."I went yesterday (Tuesday evening) to collect my traps and the traps had real oil in it. It had crab with oil in it too," Beharry said.He told the T&T Guardian that he had to throw away most of his crab traps and the few he salvaged he had to clean with kerosene.
"This Christmas is a bad Christmas. I had crabs with oil. I could not bring that home, how could I carry that in the market to sell? I had to throw it back in the river," the upset man said.He claimed Petrotrin had neither visited the community nor met with residents since the latest spill.Beharry said, "I cannot go and hold anything in there. I feel Petrotrin should compensate me for my loss."
Beharry's wife Patricia, 62, of Bayshore, said there would be no merriment for her family."We cannot have a Christmas."She has been experiencing intense headaches since the oil washed down the river, which borders her home.Yesterday when the T&T Guardian visited there were no clean-up crews on duty. However, Mohammed said early yesterday she saw a crew of Petrotrin workers in a boat clearing debris from the river and siphoning the oil from the water's surface.