Held hostage by waste

David Corniffe, a resident of Morant Bay, St Thomas, finds it next to impossible to wake up on any given day to fill his lungs with a breath of fresh air.

This is owing to individuals living in the area who constantly use his front yard and the lane on which he lives to relieve themselves of bodily waste.

The issue was raised by Port Morant Community Development Committee President Pansy Murphy during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St Thomas Municipal Corporation (StTMC).

Murphy reported that people had turned the area – known as ‘School Lane’ – into their personal lavatory, urinating on the walls and defecating in the corners.

When The Gleaner visited the area on Thursday, there were unmistakable stains on the walls of the Morant Bay Post Office, which is situated along the lane.

Corniffe said the area was crassly called “the p*ssing place”.

The overgrown grass in his front yard and the untrimmed shrubs seem to provide just enough cover for individuals to discharge their bodily waste in public.

The elderly man, who has been living at the location since 1980, said that despite the efforts of his “guardian” – his dog – to keep some persons at bay, others are able to desecrate the area.

VIOLATORS

Corniffe said many of the violators are people going about their everyday lives who could not find a restroom, so they freely utilised the roadway to relieve themselves, whether day or night.

“A woman come off a bus out deh so and urinate, and if she look and too much visual out deh so (open space and lack of privacy), she come all ya so and drop her pants. Mi brethren siddung and see her. A when she almost done, she [notice him],” Corniffe said of a recent incident.

Thankful for the recent heavy showers, he stated that the waste has since been washed away, taking away with it “the renkness” (rankness) that took over the space.

But he fears this reprieve will not last long.

He bemoaned how “terrible” it was to live with the scent, particularly when having breakfast in the mornings and his house becomes filled with the putrid odour.

“Wah really a gwan ya now is no sanitary convenience nuh really in a the town ‘round a dis side, y’know,” he explained.

Workers at the post office told The Gleaner that the stench from the nearby lane is unbearable at times, especially on extremely hot days.

“It’s not a good feeling to be inhaling the renk scent for such long periods,” a worker said.

He further explained that staff had to be mixing household bleach with some water to splash on the walls to help reduce the intensity of the odour.

The workers said it also presents an embarrassing situation for them as customers who visit the post office would often ask about the smell “and we have to be telling them it’s not on the inside. It’s not us in here. It’s on the outside”.

The affected parties have made an appeal to the StTMC and other relevant authorities to assist them in getting the area sanitised and in helping to deter the practice.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com