By John Myers, Jnr. Staff Reporter
A resident of the Bartley building on East Queen Street, Central Kingston, observes the pile-up of garbage which has been affecting some 200 tenants for years. - Norman Grindley /Staff Photographer
IN THE midst of the police's attempt to control crime in Central Kingston, social problems like the case of some 200 residents of the Bartley building, Maiden Lane, who have been overwhelmed by tons of uncollected garbage, point to the need for much more than crime control.
The residents of the dilapidated two-storey structure, once the home of the popular Silver City guest house, now lament that their lives have become a living hell since the clean-up team started to clear the area of the huge stacks of garbage, four weeks ago, with the much of the garbage still left uncollected.
Charmaine, a resident of the building, complained that "it useless dem tek it out (the garbage) and lef' in the place." She said the yard was not as dirty as it was now, pointing out that the uncollected rubbish has been scattered in the yard. Charmaine said that as bad as the conditions in the yard were, the rubbish was piled up in one section. "Di yard never look suh, cause wi used to sweep it," she asserted.
RAMSHACKLE CONDITIONS
Similar sentiments were expressed by Nicole, another resident. She said the clean-up has raised huge clouds of age-old dust causing the children in the yard to develop colds, sinus problems and diarrhoea, never before experienced.
On entering the building through a garbage-strewn foyer, shaky wooden steps lead to a dark passage which opened on to the second floor. This is the section where all the inhabitants settle in small cubicles occupied by up to eight persons, in some cases. They say living in the ramshackle structure is not a choice, but a decision made on the bare need for survival. Nicole explained that she moved to the building only recently, after her house was set ablaze in another section of the community.
"Mi only come here come live because mi nuh have nowhere else fi guh," she said.
Oswil Parchment, a 50-year-old ex-security guard supervisor, told The Gleaner that he was born in that building and has been living there all his life. The tall, white-haired, partly disabled man in speaking to us from his small one-room space, explained that much of the garbage existed from the days when the guest house was in operation.
GROWING HEALTH RISKS
Mr. Parchment has difficulty using one of his feet as a result of an accident he said he was involved in some years back.
He said that "downstairs usually lock up as a store room weh dem store bed, chair, every little t'ing." As a result, Mr. Parchment said the furniture which was made of iron in those days, stayed there and rot. He pointed out that "if yuh notice a pure bed (frame), mattress (spring), old chair and iron a come out a di store room."
But the elderly man noted that since then, the health risks have become greater and a stench which now emanates from the rubble is unbearable. He, too, is critical of the clean-up exercise, pointing out that the workmen have rooted out the rubbish, scattered it and left it in the yard.
"Sometime how mi cough, mi feel seh mi have di disease dem seh a guh roun' now (SARS), how it bad," he asserted. "Mi neva have de cold before, is from the tractor come dig up under there so," he added.
The clean-up was initiated by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Victor Cummings. Mr. Cummings told The Gleaner in an earlier interview that his actions were sparked by the squalid conditions existing in the area, which he became aware of during a recent tour. The initiative is assisted by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
FAILED ATTEMPTS
But, the exercise was halted because of, what the MP said, is a lack of funds to complete the job. He explained that he was not getting the support he had anticipated for the project. However, he noted that he will continue to source funding for its completion. He did not give a time frame by which the project will restart.
Mr. Cummings said yesterday that the removal of the garbage is still being delayed by the lack of funds. He said that his attempts to get some financial support from the Ministry of Local Government and the KSAC have all failed. He says that the most likely source would be his Social and Economic Support Programme (SESP) funds during this financial year.
So far, 25 truckloads of garbage have been removed from the Bartley building alone. "But I figure there are another 10 truckloads left," the MP said.
In the meantime, the residents are calling for the speedy removal of the garbage from the building, to avert the possibility of a disease outbreak which, they claim, is more inevitable now than before.
