Residents want area cleaned to get rid of rodents and discourage illegal dumping

A derelict property in a St Michael community is leaving residents with headaches and presenting serious health and safety concerns for those in the area.

One resident, Michael Phillips told Barbados TODAY he was at his wits’ end having exhausted all efforts trying to get the area cleaned.

The uninhabited house in Chelston
Gardens has also become a prime spot for illegal dumpers, some of whom are brazen enough to carry out their activities during the day.

Phillips, who has been living in the area for the past four years said the property had been an eyesore from the time he moved in.

He said he had been told by neighbours that the former owner of the house had passed away some time ago.

“I’ve checked with the SSA [Sanitation Service Authority], I’ve checked through the Ministry of Health through health inspectors. What I’ve been told by some of the other residents out here who it also affects is that the structure was privately owned but the land is Government land so that presents a unique problem for it to be dealt with…It has become a serious health and safety hazard. It has brought vermin around the place and people dump stuff in it, that is one of the major problems,” Phillips said.

“I’ve been asking questions for about four years to find out what can be done. There is a well at the back of the property and a lot of trees so what I used to do every now and again was to go and spray something to keep the bush down. But it is a health hazard and a safety hazard because there is some loose galvanize…there is a crack down the middle [of the house], the floors are sunken in. It is a real mess.”

He said children also played in the area and he was concerned for their safety.

Phillips recalled that just over a year ago officials from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) visited the area and placed a notice on the property.

That notice called for the structure to be demolished forthwith “in the interest of the public health and safety” and the owner was given 42 days from May 14, 2021, to comply.

The EPD identified several concerns including a collapsed ceiling, debris, harbouring undesirables, litter, missing doors, overgrown vegetation, receptacles for water, rodents, structural cracks and termite-infested rafters.

However, Phillips said nothing had been done with the property to date.

Efforts to reach member of Parliament for the area Kirk Humphrey proved unsuccessful up to press time.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb