|
A groundwater survey is being carried out in the district of Takitumu on the south-side of Rarotonga. The survey is the result of an outbreak of the irritant syndrome in Titikaveka in late 2004.
A team including Cook Islands Marine Resources Institutional Strengthening (CIMRIS), Geoff Mavromatis and post graduate student Jayne Richards from the University of Western Australia will carry out the research for a month. Sample holes will be drilled in the Ngatangiia area for testing the quality of underground water and the findings to be passed on to the Takitumu Lagoon Management Plan team which is headed by Mayor, Teariki Matenga.
The management team also include representatives from Marine Resources, National Environment Services, Health, NGOs, CIMRIS, and council members of the Takitumu district.
CIMRIS is a three to five year NZAID funded project. One of its main focuses is the health of the lagoon and sustaining fishing for local consumption. The outbreak of irritants in 2004 raised serious concerns and the Public Health issued warnings for people not to swim in the Titikaveka lagoon because people who swam there suffered from skin rash and itchy eyes. Pig farms were blamed for the outbreak through waste leakage into the nearby stream and eventually into the lagoon.
|
