By John Myers, Staff ReporterRESIDENTS IN Southside, Central Kingston, are facing a major health risk where they are living in conditions described by local officials as sub-human and hazardous.
Up to late yesterday afternoon, a huge pile-up of garbage covered the ground floor of the Bartley Building on Maiden Lane where it is estimated that over 200 persons reside. Most of them occupy the second floor but the garbage is already beginning to reach there as well.
The occupants have no sanitary facilities and as a result, often defecate in bags which they dispose of within the confines of the building.
The Medical Officer of Health (MOH) for Kingston and St. Andrew, Dr. Herb Elliott, noted that such a building was unsuitable for human occupation which could cause them to develop medical complications such as typhoid, skin infections, diarrhoea among other illnesses and create a suitable breeding ground for rats.
Dr. Elliott explained that in cases such as this, the Public Health Department would notify the owner of the building and instruct them to carry out the necessary improvements. He noted, however, that Member of Parliament for Central Kingston, Victor Cummings, has already asked the Health Department to supply about 100 toilet units.
Mr. Cummings told The Gleaner yesterday that during a tour of the area last week, he was shocked to discover the squalid conditions under which some residents in the area were living.
He said that a major clean-up exercise has begun, with assistance from the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and Metropolitan Parks and Markets (MPM). It includes the clearing of huge stacks of garbage from inside inhabited buildings and from the streets.
Delroy Hall, a technical supervisor at the KSAC who is supervising the cleaning-up project, said the large pile of garbage consisting of rusty metals, rotten board, paper, plastic bags and other material, had been left to accumulate over several years.
Mr. Cummings said that when the building was cleaned of all the garbage, the rooms will be refurbished and with the assistance from other sources, proper sanitary facilities and additional rooms for the residents would be built.
He said the venture is estimated to cost approximately $100,000, adding that there was a similar plan for other areas of the constituency.
"We are very happy for it, especially knowing that children live in the building," a shopkeeper who gave her name as Vivienne told The Gleaner.
