A disturbing and distressing sight of rotten animal carcasses in the River Callan has raised environmental concerns from residents.
This is the scene which greets walkers along the Ballyards Road in Armagh in what is, apparently, the latest dead animal to be discovered in the water.
It appears to be the carcass of a sheep – last week it was a calf.
Local community members have expressed their outrage and demanded immediate action from authorities to address the issue – but it could be a while.
One woman expressed her disgust to this publication at the lack of urgency in cleaning it up stating she did not an adequate response from the Rivers Agency when reported earlier this week.
“On Monday (June 5) I was out for my walk along the beautiful Callan River when I noticed a dead animal in the water,” she explained.
“These things happen and I thought, no one will know until someone informs the authority responsible. So I contacted ABC Council who informed me it was a Rivers Agency issue. I phoned them. The person answering the phone told me it was a Council issue.
“Now at this stage I was getting the message that no one wanted to deal with it. So, forcefully I asked Rivers Agency to please deal with it, be it council or a Rivers Agency responsibility.”
However, the problem persists.
She added: “On Thursday, I am walking the Ballyards Road again and I was very disturbed to see that no one had bothered to deal with the issue.
“So again I phoned the Council and the Rivers Agency. I spoke with a lady at the Rivers Agency and again the woman asked me was it blocking the river?
“I don’t understand the reason for the question so I asked if the woman understood that an animal was decomposing in the river and will subsequently having a negative impact on whatever was living in the river.
“I advised her if it didn’t get sorted I was going to the media. I have just been to the river (Friday) and guess what – nothing has changed.
“It’s very sad that the departments that we charge with looking after our rivers can’t act when the public identify an issue. The public pay their taxes and rates and deserve better, it’s so frustrating”.
Armagh I contacted the Department for Infrastructure which oversees the Rivers Agency for comment. At the time of publication, no comment was forthcoming.
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