A year has passed since the Presidential Commission for the Conservation and Rescue of Lake Maracaibo announced that 27 treatment plants in the state of Zulia would be put into operation in order to stop human-caused pollution of the lake, but it has only remained as a promise.
Correspondent lapatilla.com
The month of August arrived and the cyanobacteria and a water plant, popularly known as “verdín” (green tint, stain), reappeared in Lake Maracaibo (Maracaibo and San Francisco municipalities), and this is evident on the banks of the lake waters with the arrival of the rainy season.
The Azul Ambientalista Foundation asked the authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region due to the cyclical appearance of duckweed. Its appearance causes the decline of fishing and tourist activity and the paralysis of the practice of water sports in Lake Maracaibo.
Yohan Flores, director of Azul Ambientalista, asked that the relevant organizations focus on stopping the indiscriminate contamination of Lake Maracaibo.
A fisherman from the Santa Rosa de Agua sector in Maracaibo said that this year “the mess (doing something noisy halfway to collect a lot of money) has not been seen, because this year it has only been photo after photo. This does not hurt anyone, only us who have lived in Santa Rosa all our lives and our work and food depend on fishing,” he said.
José Díaz, who is also a fisherman, said that Zulia or the Lake does not seem to trouble the National Executive, which has the resources to clean up the Zulia estuary. Oil spills and pollution are the order of the day.
“The only one who remembers us is the mayor of Maracaibo who collects the garbage, (the trucks) come twice a week. He built a road stop and they are here dedicated to serving the native people who live off tourism, fishing and gastronomy,” he said.
Elio Ríos, vice president of Naturazul, said that the arrival of “winter” (rainy season) has caused intense rains as usual throughout the state and that is why duckweed and algae is observed on the surface of the Lake. According to the expert, this happens for three reasons that urgently need to be corrected by the national authorities.
He stressed that the polluted runoff from creeks and gullies must be stopped from flowing into the lake. This should not reach the lake. Added to this is the domestic dumping of solid waste and oil spills, which must be corrected as soon as possible.
Angel Ruiz, a fisherman, told la patilla.com that the town of Santa Rosa has no mourners. “Pure talk and propaganda, and nothing to do with it.”
Ruiz reported that last week, in one day he lost everything he caught: 50 kilos of fish and 35 kilos of shrimp.
“I have to pay the owner of the cayuco (an oar propelled artisanal boat) 15% of what I caught. That day I lost everything because it was stained with verdigris, I lost a day of work. Who feeds my children, nobody, just their mother and me,” he lamented.
The toxins released by cyanobacteria and algae have been causing gastrointestinal and skin diseases, which are treated by each family, even though the responsibility for the conservation of the lake lies with the National Executive. The most affected, as always, are children and the elderly.