By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Free National Movement Cabinet Minister Maurice Moore has revealed that he is battling cancer and believes that years of exposure to industrial pollution in the Pinder’s Point community where he lives, was a contributing factor.

Mr Moore, whose home is a “stone’s throw away” from the BORCO plant, announced publicly this week at a town meeting that he has prostate cancer.

He told The Tribune yesterday that he was diagnosed last May. “I am battling it and I go back to Nassau next week for treatment. I think the industrial pollution has something to do with it,” he said.

Mr Moore, a native of Pinder’s Point, said the nearby BORCO plant has expanded tremendously over the past 30 years, with huge oil tanks and pipelines bordering properties in Pinder’s Point and Lewis Yard.

He noted that he was healthy for most his adult life prior to returning home to live in the community on a more permanent basis following his retirement from politics in 1997.

Mr Moore, 77, supports the relocation of residents and said he was “very offended” when Prime Minister Perry Christie recently stated that relocation was not something that his government would consider because the studies conducted in relation to the industrial pollution in Grand Bahama have not recommended it.

The Pinder’s Point Lewis Yard Environment Committee has been agitating for the relocation of residents. The organisation held a town meeting for residents in the affected communities on Tuesday.

Mr Moore, one of the ‘Dissident Eight’ who formed the FNM, told the gathering of his battle with prostate cancer and that his residence sits just across the street from the BORCO/Buckeye Plant. He said that the massive piplelines and tanks near his residence pose a safety risk.

The former Minister of Social Development, Minister of Labour, Human Resources and Training, and former Ambassador, recalled when he first learned of the diagnosis.

“I do a medical and physical exam every year and in May of last year my doctor told me, ‘you have an aggressive form of cancer’. He gave me a special shot and told me to make arrangements to have immediate treatment. I did not know what to do or think,” he said.

“I am absolutely in support of relocation - that is the only solution to the plight of residents. When the (oil) refinery initially started here it was a small storage unit; it was not as large as it is today. And back then, nobody in the community knew that they had acquired all that land so they could expand. They have expanded now so close to the fence line near people’s property.”

Mr Moore noted that for most of his adult life, from 26 when he was first elected to Parliament, he resided most of the time in Nassau and New York.

“When I moved back home on a permanent basis after retiring from political life, I began to have throat difficulties, more coughs and colds,” he claimed. “The tanks are only a stone’s throw from my house. When I heard (the PM’s) remarks I was very offended because I feel that a government ought to do all that it can for the health and welfare of its citizens.

“I thought his remarks were very callous. People have died in this community and so many have suffered from cancer and many are suffering now from cancer,” he said.

“The only solution to the problem is that the community needs to be relocated. Many residents have absconded from the communities. The industry continues to expand their plant in the area,” Mr Moore said.

In addition to the environmental pollution, Mr Moore noted that the plant poses a serious threat to safety. “There have been fires,” he said, referring to a 1995 tank fire at BORCO which resulted in the evacuation of hundreds of residents in Pinder’s Point.

“It is unsafe and, when government allows such massive expansions, they must take into consideration the care and protection for its citizens,” said the former cabinet minister.

Mr Moore commended the hospital authorities in Nassau for their treatment of him. “Whenever I went to Nassau they were very helpful in making sure I had first class service and treatment,” he said.

At the town meeting, many other residents spoke of their various illnesses. Last week, several residents became ill with fits of vomiting, headaches, nausea and general bad feelings from the strong odours, which a representative of Buckeye reportedly said were due to “a type of crude that is very viscous”.

Residents have rejected the results of a 2015 health and environment risk assessment study conducted by the Pan American Health Organisation and World Health Organisation which said there was no risk to residents living in communities near the industrial plants.

The affected communities are Pinder’s Point, Lewis Yard, Hawksbill, Seaco Town, Hunters and Mack Town.