The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

SEVENTY per cent of the fire at the city dump has been put out, Deputy Director at the Department of Environmental Services, Thomasina Wilson, said yesterday.

In urging residents to patiently wait as workers fully extinguish the fire, she said that she has heard reports about residents evacuating the area. She said doing so is unnecessary.

“We are still working on the fire,” she said. “The smoke is coming from the bottom. The wind has shifted and the smoke is moving toward the north western section of the island. We have it contained. We don’t know when the smoke will be put out, but we are working feverishly to bring it to an end.”

“We don’t know who told people they need to evacuate the area. It’s safe for them to be there; just keep your windows closed.”

“Everybody wants a bandaid,” she said, adding, “but this is surgery. We have to meticulously get this out once and for all. It’s going to take us some time. But have patience with us.”

Ms Wilson said it is not necessary for tests to be done to determine the toxicity of the air.

Nonetheless, some residents called on the government to relocate the dump.

“They gon’ have to do something with that dump over the years,” said Philip Bowe, a resident at Fire Trail Road. “This place has developed a lot so what they really need to do is move that dump. They done do all these road projects and that city dump needs to be moved now.”

“I’m used to it,” he said. “I’ve been living here for 23 years. But this was the worst it’s ever been. And it’s the first time it happened in March. It usually happens in June and the summer months. It was worse than usual now because the wind shifted and the smoke came low rather than going into the air.”

“That level of smoke could do something to you if you are someone with certain kinds of health problems. You can’t be playing or walking around in that kind of smoke. Everybody here is affected. It’s as if it’s right in your yard and you can’t put it out.”

A woman, Esther Clarke, said she and her family of four went to her mother’s house on Saturday to escape the smoke. “We were lucky because it wasn’t like that straight through, but on Saturday it was bad. The smoke was seeping inside despite closing the windows. My grandson and I are asthmatic.”

Another resident of the area said: “It was bad in the sense that one minute it was out and the next minute it was back again. We had to keep all the windows closed.”