AN OVERGROWN section of the May Pen Cemetery on Spanish Town Road in Kingston, said to be a breeding ground for rats that had infested the nearby Tivoli Gardens High School, has been cleared after intervention from the Ministry of Local Government.
Senator Desmond McKenzie, Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) Councillor for the Tivoli Gardens Division, said work had been completed in the area near the high school and workmen were in the final stages of removing debris. Rat baits have also been set to ward off the rodents and some cleaning was done inside the school yard.
Town Clerk Errol Greene said the Ministry of Local Government had approved $450,000 to clean up the area. He said the KSAC was still finalising details to have prisoners from the island's correctional facilities carry out major 'bushing' on the rest of the overgrown public cemetery.
Senator McKenzie expressed alarm at the rat infestation two months ago, stating that the school was being overrun by huge rodents, which came from the overgrown and dilapidated May Pen Cemetery.
He warned that the problem was threatening to spill over into the wider community, thereby creating a major health hazard for the people of Tivoli Gardens and its environs.
Senator McKenzie said the May Pen Cemetery provided a breeding ground for the rodents, as the issue of 'bushing' the burial ground had been unresolved.
The Town Clerk has been promising since January this year that the cemetery would be cleared by prisoners, but so far that has not been done.
