blackmattersus.com
Hello, Jamillah! There are different theories on what happened in Flint. What is your opinion? Do you believe it was made intentionally?
Jamillah Rahmaad
As much a conspiracy theorist as I am, I don’t believe that people were hurt intentionally. I think that they were hurt because of people not doing their job or research properly. This is an act of carelessness. I don’t believe that it was genocide to kill all the people in Flint or to hurt them on purpose. However, I do believe that people who don’t do their work and research to access a matter of this nature should be punished, regardless of whether it was intentional or unintentional. If you unintentionally shoot a person, you still have to face the repercussions of your actions.
blackmattersus.com
Did the crisis affect you personally? How exactly?
Jamillah Rahmaad
I have family members and I am a hometown resident of Flint. I’m affected because the people that I love are hurting from this situation. I’m affected because my parents are still located in Flint and all of my childhood friends are also located in Flint. Personally, I have not been exposed to the water contamination. It could have happened during my last visit home, which was before the news broke about the Flint Water Crises. Luckily, most residents were already aware of the contamination long before it hit the mass media. So I was warned to not use the water during my last visit.
blackmattersus.com
What is the worst possible aftermath of the crisis on your opinion? Are you worried about possible future problems for your family and friends?
Jamillah Rahmaad
I think one of the biggest problems is we will not know the side effects for years to come. So, yes, of course, we are all worried. But I think that it’s going to turn into one of the situations where we don’t know which came first, the chicken or the egg. One thing that we don’t have to worry about is something as simple and humanitarian issue as health because we are not a third world country. So every health issue that is coming up, we will know whether it’s related to the water or not. Now people can stop drinking the water, stop touching it and all of those things but we will know in 5-10 years or 20, maybe even 30 years the mass effects it will have on the children who were drinking this water or the adults.
blackmattersus.com
Do you think personal water filters can help?
Jamillah Rahmaad
Well, Flint has one of the poorest people in the nation. Most people use filters, bottled water. But this cannot go on for life. Are we expecting these people to filter and not be able to drink tap water for the rest of their lives?
blackmattersus.com
Has the crisis affected businesses and housing in Flint?
Jamillah Rahmaad
Absolutely! One of the largest complaints of residents is the high amount of money they are paying for water bills. They are paying for the water that they can’t drink, use or consume. More than that, the water company has been placing lease on their homes for non-payment. That drives the most abandoned homes down. People don’t want to buy homes within the city because they all have extremely corroded and corrosive pipelines. So the housing market could potentially never come back to life because there could be an issue where some developers or contractors come in and push the poorest people out. That’s another effect of the crisis: no one knows what’s going to happen with the housing and the poorest households in the future.
blackmattersus.com
Did the governor publicly accept his responsibility for the crisis? What should the consequences be for him and his administration in your opinion?
Jamillah Rahmaad
He has apologized but he has not accepted full responsibility. Instead, they are shifting the blame to the Water Plant Operators and some city persons who in fact were people doing what they were told. Since they couldn’t do their research before making that decision and now many lives are at stake because they have been exposed to these toxins and lead in the water, those responsible should be charged criminally.
blackmattersus.com
Do you think the authorities are doing their best to solve the crisis?
Jamillah Rahmaad
I believe that whatever they have been doing up till today is a temporary solution to a permanent problem. When they switched the water from the Detroit Water supply to the Flint River, they corroded all the pipes. So going back would still not solve the problem. If they are not ready to redo pipes in the whole city, everything that they do doesn’t matter. These people can’t live on bottled water for the next 50 years.
blackmattersus.com
The original reason for Flint water contamination is General Motors and other factories dumping chemicals in the Flint River. Do GM and other companies compensate their part in this crisis?
Jamillah Rahmaad
As far as I know, the only compensation is bottled water, which is delivered by the Red Cross as well as different volunteer associations. They give out bottled water and bathing showers to the residents. There have also been lawsuits filed but the trial date is not scheduled yet.
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