Overflowing garbage concerns Cocorite residents

Cocorite residents are complaining that four garbage bins at the entrance of the Powder Magazine phase one housing development are turning into a dumpsite.

Residents said the corporation has been neglecting garbage removal, as the bins have been left overflowing for the past three weeks.

“People from Diego Martin, Westmoorings and a nearby vegetable mart dump their garbage in this bin. We spoke to the corporation, and for years they say they working on it,” said one resident

They are pleading with the relevant authorities to relocate the bins, saying they are now infested with rats and mosquitoes. They said they are turning into a public health hazard and they are fearful of the diseases the vermin and insects carry.

“The problem that we are having is the rats that live in the overgrown drains nearby. They are huge – and we checked 105 rats one day,” said another resident.

When Newsday contacted the Diego Martin regional corporation chairman Sigler Jack he said the corporation was aware of the issue.

“The council is very much on top of it, and that matter has been ongoing for a while now. We are trying to acquire a piece of land to take care of that situation, but it is taking too long,” he said

Jack said people from higher up the hill and other residents dump garbage in the bins.

“The problem is the volume and regularity of the garbage, But the place is normally cleared on the contracted three-day schedule,”

Residents disagreed with that statement, claiming nothing is being done to find a solution.