QUARRY EXPLOSION: ONE YEAR LATER

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]ragedies, sadly, happen. When something happens and it results in breaking news, it often becomes the talk of the town and floods the airwaves and streets for a few days until the conversation comes to an abrupt end—though it may resurface from time to time. This is because a new breaking story will replace it. The cycle continuing non-stop throughout the year. Stories including road accidents, robberies, rape, homicides,
and everything in between. They all suffer the same fate; becoming forgotten, except by those directly affected. This cycle is a part of life, yes, but what we must try to ensure is that, for every incident, there is a conclusion. There are countless stories that can be included in this article, but, the focus will remain on one in particular.

This past Wednesday marked the one year anniversary of the deadly quarry explosion which rocked the nation. The explosion took place in a quarry at Cul De Sac. It was reportedly felt miles away, causing damage to homes, vehicles, infrastructure, and, unfortunately, loss of life. At the time of the incident, I had no idea what had actually happened. Later I would learn of its severity. On that day, I was in the city of Castries but didn’t remember hearing the sound of any explosion. The word then began to spread that ‘something’ had blown up but details were limited.

Hours later, at news time, my eyes were glued to the television to see whether or not there was any official report on the situation. Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet said “There was an explosion; the details are still very very sketchy at this point. There seems to be dynamite and also fertilizer in two containers, and somehow they got ignited.”

He went on to state, “Unfortunately it seems like two people have died, although that’s the initial appraisal.”

It would later be confirmed that four people (all workers at the quarry) died as a result of the explosion. The government responded quickly by transferring the seriously injured to a hospital in neighbouring Martinique to receive urgent care. The majority of patients suffered minor injuries and were treated at the Victoria Hospital.

Some days after the incident, the public was informed by the then acting Police Commissioner, Milton Desir, that evidence had been collected from the scene and sent to the USA for testing.

About a month later, the National Security Minister, Hermangild Francis, at a press briefing reported, “I want the public to understand that the government is very serious about getting to the bottom of what happened at the quarry. We had some investigators here, and they have now indicated that they have finished with their investigations and they are in the process of preparing a report, which will be submitted to the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions.”

In June, Prime Minister Chastanet expressed dissatisfaction with the length of time the investigations were taking: “I’m personally very disappointed in how long it is taking for this matter to be resolved because this is obviously something that’s very painful to the family members that were involved.”

He added “We have been allowing the process to take place. We are now going to apply some pressure to see if we could bring these things to a conclusion much quicker.”

This was the last communiqué by the government in relation to the situation. The report has been in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions for months now, so hopefully there should be some sort of progress made. This tragedy claimed four lives, and whilethe majority of us may not have been directly affected,
the nation as a whole needs an explanation as to what transpired that day and what is the conclusion of the investigation.