Problems on tap
As if Yarrabah hasn’t got enough problems, now it seems there’s something in the water
Plagued by out-of-control youth, ballooning unemployment, chronic overcrowding and second rate mobile reception – contaminated water has now been added to woes afflicting Queensland’s largest Indigenous community.
Last week workers employed by Gurriny Yealamucka Health at Yarrabah were notified that copper had been detected in drinking water entering the Bukki Rd facility.
Workers were asked to give blood that would be screened for the metal. However most concerning was the health service director stating anyone who has ingested water at the centre during the past two years ought to be tested. Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council issued a public notice on Saturday stating Tropical Public Health Services was investigating plumbing at the health centre amid serious concern about health impacts to Indigenous workers prone to liver and kidney problems.
“Council is very concerned that there has been copper detected in the community,” Mayor Ross Andrews told the Cairns Post.
The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service has engaged an expert hydraulic engineering firm to investigate the plumbing system within the facility and make recommendations.
Staff and patients of the centre have been advised to drink bottled water while the issue is being investigated.
It is clear workers would have been doing this anyway given the horrid state of the water coming out of the taps.
Questions have been raised by health insiders about an information blackout on the putrid yellow-coloured water but CHHHS insists doctors have met twice with staff at the Yarrabah Health Service to answer questions and hear about plans to address water quality issues.
However the big issue for Cr Andrews was Yarrabah falling further behind after being identified by the ABS as the nation’s fifth most disadvantaged local government area.
“We need more government investment and support to really get on top of the situation out here,” he said.