Tourism ministry to make recommendations to Splashmins Resort
-following investigation into alleged piranha attacks
The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has announced that a series of recommendations are to be made at the Splashmins Resort after an investigation was launched more than a month ago following reports of two alleged piranha attacks at the resort.
According to the representative from the ministry, they received the report of the investigation some two days ago which saw recommendations being made to the resort. Although it was not stated what those recommendations are, the representative said that it will be disclosed to the public at a later date by the minister herself.
On January 2, 29-year-old Ravindra Campton claimed that he was bitten by an aquatic creature when he and his family had gone to the resort located along the Linden/Soesdyke Highway. The man said he suspected that it was a piranha due to teeth marks which resembled the pattern made by the carnivorous fish. .
“We arrived there like after twelve on Monday… me and my family and everything was normal, everybody was in there around the water and so on and then later on while I was there I feel something bite my foot, I know it couldn’t be a cut I get because my foot wasn’t touching the ground, it was in the water yes but it wasn’t touching the ground and I feel something bite my foot and I start see blood… so I tell my family check and when they check they said it was a bite after that everybody started to get scared and panic,” Compton recounted in an earlier interview with Stabroek News.
Meanwhile the second victim, a 24-year-old woman, related to this newspaper that she and others, including children, were all sitting in the water and playing on January 28 when she felt something bite her.
“It was like around ten persons… we were playing in the water with a ball. Then I asked my boyfriend to go bring my phone because, you know, I was expecting calls. As I was waiting for him to return, I felt as though something bit me and as I tried to hop out of the water on my other foot, I told another guy that something bit me and when he checked he saw the bite and the blood.”
The young woman said that when she arrived at the hospital she was told by the doctor that it was indeed a fish bite. “We went to the Diamond hospital and when I got there a nurse said that it was a fish bite. Then when I meet with the doctor, I was told that it was a piranha bite and that was also written on the medical that was given to me.”
Both victims have since complained about the ill-treatment they had received from the staff at the resort when they informed them of their injuries.
Stabroek News had tried on many occasions to contact someone from the resort but was often told that the authorized person to comment on the incident was not around.