Dear Editor, So the Wellness project has once more resurfaced. From the frothy PR you might be mistaken into thinking it’s some sort of health club where school mums partake in late morning Pilates classes and enjoy a cappuccino or smoothie afterwards while yoga is practised in the grounds of the complex.
Well sorry to shatter everyone’s illusions but the reality may be a lot darker.
The proposal has been on the backburner for some time and has suffered its fair share of major setbacks, with resignations at the top level and even police investigations mentioned at one point. Yet the powers-that-be are relentless in their pursuit of this vision. But what exactly does it entail?
Odd how its proponents in Swansea and Carmarthen wish to locate the initiative at arm’s length by dumping the development in Llanelli, sandwiched between the districts of Morfa and Machynys. Furthermore even after all these years since Wellness was first mentioned, no details are yet forthcoming on the core activities planned there behind closed doors.
Council taxpayers are set to foot the bill for all this so surely need to be properly informed as to the risks. No doubt Big Pharma are in the mix with Swansea University merely fronting the enterprise.
We the general populace though may have questions – are we talking vivisection? That’s experimentation on live animals, including primates. Will there be a virology laboratory? What if something escapes ? Are local youngsters to be encouraged to submit themselves to numerous drugs trials at the facility? What security measures & biowarfare categorisations will be in pace there? Which toxins will be worked on? Will it become a mini Porton Down?
Whatever secrets lie behind the facade, Llanelli town is set to benefit not a jot. That area would be better off dedicated to local leisure and the local environment enhanced, not degraded. Now that would truly represent the promotion of wellness.
S Hogan
Llanelli
