THE EDITOR, Sir:LAST TUESDAY night, around 8:30, I was sitting under the slab roof of my hot, little cubby-hole of a bedroom in Greater Portmore when my nostrils were assailed by a now familiar odour.
It was the smell of Malathion, that insecticide which when sprayed, is supposed to destroy the pesky, disease-carrying mosquitoes that invade the community from time to time.
Now, I believe we the citizens of Greater Portmore are getting too much of a good thing. It's meant to be a good thing for mosquitoes to be eliminated, but why eliminate us at the same time?
The fact of the matter is that we have been sprayed at weekly intervals for the past couple of months. Just as with the frequent power cuts and water lock-offs, there is no advance notice.
I figure that the powers that be do not respect us 'Greater Portmorians', or they would consider that this insecticide is dangerous to pets, plants and asthmatics, and warn us so that we can protect those who are vulnerable. I myself am not asthmatic and yet I am being stifled each time.
We, the residents of Greater Portmore, are being put through so much that is hazardous and inconvenient.
We not only have to dodge gunshots like the rest of the
population, but we continually have to inhale unsafe
insecticides, dust and smoke (from Riverton City and
otherwise). I plead with the authorities responsible to give us forewarning before spraying us and the mosquitoes.
And, by the way, the mosquitoes around me seem to be thriving on the spray. They are flying around looking as robust and healthy as ever!
I am, etc.,
AUDREY WRIGHT
Greater Portmore P.O.
St. Catherine
