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Santo Domingo.- Education Minister Melanio Paredes revealed yesterday that the school breakfasts could have been deliberately adulterated, due to the fact that no microbiological organisms that could explain the recent spate of food poisoning among schoolchildren over the last few months have been detected.
Paredes warned that the state intelligence agencies are investigating the situation and may take measures against those responsible, because endangering the life of a child is a criminal act.
He said he had asked president Leonel Fernández to authorize a request for help from international organizations like UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization, with the aim of ensuring quality and consistency of school breakfasts.
At a press conference to deliver a technical report that calls for the total suspension of the liquid component of the school breakfast, the official, in the company of several specialists, said that no pathogenic elements that would have affected the schoolchildren’s health had been found.
“There is evidently an unidentified chemical agent that we suspect has caused these incidents. We took the extreme decision to suspend all that is liquid in the school breakfast to prevent worse consequences”, he stated.
The official accepted that there had been a high number of cases, but spread all over the country, and that had been happening over the last two months.
Nelson Rodríguez, Epidemiological director at the Public Health Ministry, said that he had accompanied the Education Ministry throughout the process and that the results had shown that there was no lack of control in the production process and quality controls.
“We did not find any compromising evidence in terms of parasites, viruses, et cetera”, said the official.
José Grillo, an epidemiologist at the Chemistry Institute at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) did not discount the use of syringes to alter the milk or juice drinks with the aim of discrediting this important social program.
Paredes said that during the three remaining weeks of the school year they would only distribute bread and cake.
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LIe-onel needs to step up and take charge here instead of making publicity appearances and giving away the public's money to his friends. How about protecting our children.
Oh Lord.
It is horrible that one Dominican would 'poison' another Dominican.
But, children. How f..en low are you people?
Find them and kill those scum.
Investigation as others have commented is desparately needed but I would suspect water drunk by children to be the cause as water supplies of good quaility are limited in many parts.
Sterilisation tablets could be used and free water provided to children.
Mal-nutritions, under 5 mortaility and child mortality are high in the DR but I see many SUV's are still imported.
S.
Mortaility in children is linked to nutrition and now breakfasts are sabotaged / stopped.
DR needs foreign exchange to buy equipment for school kitchens etc, develop more nutritious food etc. but squanders this foreign exchange on SUV's.
SUV's will eat oil again using foreign exchange.
When the UK faced a similar crisis in 1948-52 it was almost impossible to import luxury goods and those that were home produced were allocated - e.g. cars for doctors.
Still the priority of developing countires now is to import SUV's , unnecessary oil ,and let their children die or not reach full potential.
S.
Seriously, I don’t doubt that money is the main motivator for whoever perpetrated this crime.
I met a Haitian man recently, in a frank and candid conversation he asked me why Dominicans steal so much???
And those that violate our borders, a minimum of 6 month hard-work or a maximum five years (cleaning streets, working on mines, etc) --- it is free labor for our economy and criminals leave with a nasty taste in their month!