It's deja vu all over again, as Dangriga's water supply from the north Stann Creek River has been contaminated and the culprit again, is Del Oro, or as the company is now called, Citrus Products of Belize limited.
It started on Sunday night when a PVC pipe which carries what's called orange oil burst and spilled effluent into a nearby stream, which runs into the north Stann Creek River. By Monday morning - it resulted in a massive fish kill as seen in pictures where thousands of fish including bass snook and tilapia were found dead in the water.
The images provided by the Stann Creek Star show it's a terrible sight, but not enough to discourage immigrants in the area from seizing on the opportunity and taking home sacks full of dead fish. Water quality analysts form BWSL and the Department of Environment were called in to assess the safety of the water supply for Dangriga residents. And incredibly - even as it kills fishes - they yesterday concluded that it's fine for human.
Water was briefly interrupted yesterday as a precautionary measure, but according to our reports things have returned to normal.
As for the pipe, it has been replaced.