This is a camp that participants will never forget. More than half of the children fell ill. Evacuated yesterday, the chefs are back on Tuesday to pack everything up. With not very pleasant memories. “I was the first to have symptoms“, explains Chloé, chef Lutin. “I woke up and it was over for me. I was vomiting and had to go to the doctor where we did tests to discover that the cause was a bacterium.” Several children ended up in the hospital. This is the 5th camp in three weeks that must be interrupted on the same site.
According to the scout unit, the owner knew and did not do what was necessary to protect the new arrivals. Jean-Pierre Adant recognizes that the problem has already arisen. He would have already warned the Walloon Water Company. But it continued to host camps without changing anything in its installation. “It is the water, I think, the person responsible”, he explains. “But it is city water so it is the SWDE which has done nothing.”
Excluding microphones, the owner rather brags regarding the quality of his spring water. The FASFC is currently analyzing the samples to clarify this matter. In the meantime, the water is no longer drinkable. All troop equipment must be disinfected. “We have to clean everything. The water bottles, the dishes and even us, our hands, everything”, details Justine. The day is still long for these heads of unit.
A legal conflict might arise between the owner of the land and the Scout Federation or the parents. The area is closed by local authorities.
