Unsightly pile-up

Former Democratic Labour Party candidate for St Michael South East in the 2018 General Elections Rodney Grant is charging that the area of Golden Rock, Pine, St Michael has been neglected by Government.

“It is a problem with neglect and marginalisation of certain areas. We have to find a way to treat these kinds of communities better [if not] the things that we face will not change. If we continue to treat the community [as if it’s]derelict, then the residents at times will act derelict. We create ghettos and slums because we do not put the extra effort to make these communities look aesthetically pleasing,” he told Barbados TODAY.

A group of males playing football in an area which is garbage ridden with an overflowing skip which residents say is rat infested.

The area which is filled with heaps of garbage, as well as a dilapidated minibus was spotted by a Barbados TODAY team on Tuesday. Grant claimed that in other areas you would not see an overflow of garbage to the point that it is posing a health hazard to the residents of the community.

“You would never see this in certain parts of Barbados. So why you allow it to happen in the Pine where you have garbage overflowing to the point where it could become a hazard? You would never see it happening in certain places because if the garbage gets to a certain level people would have the resources to call in private contractors or the system would deal with it,” he said.

Resident Rhonda Hollingsworth told Barbados TODAY she is at her wits’ end with the garbage collection in her community as it is leading to an unhealthy rat infestation.

“This is very bad for the community because of the stuff in the area. The wells in the community are filled with stuff; they are not doing anything about it. Rats are running out of the stuff during the day. I have a shop and it is very bad for people’s health. It is very unfair,” she said.

Hollingsworth noted garbage collection in her area comes ‘when it feels like’ and on top of that the area no longer has a skip for residents to place their garbage in should their garbage cans be filled.

This concern was raised by another resident in the area who wished to remain anonymous. He told Barbados TODAY the area has not had a skip in approximately four weeks.

The unemployed resident said dogs and chickens interfere with the garbage heap resulting in some of the debris travelling along the area.

“When the water settles it smells. The dogs pull out all of the garbage,” he said.

Today, less than 24 hours after a Barbados TODAY team stumbled upon the garbage pile-up a skip was placed in the area.

Residents in Avon Lane said the problem affecting their area was as a result of people from other districts travelling to Golden Rock, Pine, St Michael to dump their garbage.

Resident Cheryl told Barbados TODAY that from the wee hours of the morning scores of people come to the area to dump their garbages.

“They come and dump things [such as] old fridges, old stoves and carpets,” she said.  “Rats are jumping out of the skip. It’s not easy for me [because] I am a businesswoman at my home. I sell my sugar cakes and snacks from my house,” she said.

Another female resident who did not wish to be identified said, “As long as people see stuff they are going to keep putting it out whether the skip is there or not. People who are not from the district put stuff there also. So I don’t know what they can do about it but I would like them to do something because even the smell alone is really terrible,” she said.