Morne Coco Road littered with garbage

Residents of Morne Coco Road in Petit Valley can expect some relief by the weekend from garbage dumped indiscriminately along the road, says councillor Catherine Mendez.

Responding to complaints from residents and passers-by about mounds of garbage along the roadway, Mendez told Newsday that the Diego Martin Regional Corporation (DMRC) has begun a clean-up exercise in the St Lucien/Cameron Hill District, in which Morne Coco Road falls. The clean-up began from La Fillette Road in Paramin up to Wall Trace on Morne Cyril Road. Work for the rest of the week, she said, will be on Beau Pres Road, Morne Coco Road (from Saut D’Eau Road to Majuba Crossroad), Back Street in Le Platte Village, Lower Cameron Road and Superville Quarry Road. Newsday visited Morne Coco Road and saw a number of areas where household appliances and other items including animal carcasses were dumped among household refuse.

While resident Roland Augustus was telling Newsday that residents and outsiders were dumping their garbage just below his property at 153 West Pole, another male resident with three large garbage bags in hand added them to the dump. The male resident and Augustus had a verbal exchange, with the man arguing that the garbage truck does not go into his community, so he has to bring the garbage out on the road.

A female resident told Newsday that on Sunday there was an accident in the area, as garbage had spilled onto the road. She said it has been piling up before the Christmas holidays.

Mendez told Newsday, “From Christmas to now the residents generated a lot of garbage.” Last year, the DMRC installed a number of “no dumping” signs as “residents themselves create dump sites. The Morne Coco Road is one,” she said. “It is not what we do, but how we do it. Some people just throw garbage without securing it in a bag, or do not place it in the bin where it is supposed to go.”

One of the challenges, she said, is that contractors were not picking up garbage on schedule. “That is something we are working to correct.” At present, she said, the DMRC has assigned its internal resources to pick up the slack where the hired contractors cannot do the job.

Residents may contact the DMRC Health Department at 632-0713 or Mendez for advice/guidance on garbage disposal in the district.