Garbage lay in Gardens building for 2 months

Residents of Street 2 of Discovery Gardens had to put up with the stench from garbage that was piled up for nearly two months until this week.

The accumulation of nearly two months of garbage from about 50 households was finally picked up yesterday.

It was a plain disaster, according to residents of Building 81. The garbage container in the ground floor had spilled over and the garbage chutes could not be used any longer. Swamps of flies had entered the corridors and the smell of the garbage had spread through the neighbourhood.

“A resident in the neighbouring building had even complained about the smell,” said MP, one of the residents of Building 81 who had been trying to resolve the matter.

“The children in this building are picked up by their school bus right next to the container. They had to stand and wait there every day. It had become a civic hazard.”

Normally, the garbage is picked up in the neighbourhood every day, or two at the most, but at some point in January, the trucks stopped coming to the building. Because it did serve all the other buildings in the same street, residents repeatedly asked why their garbage was not being cleared. Garbage men said that they did not have the clearance to do so, alleged residents.

When the containers spilled over, security personnel was installed to prevent residents from dumping their garbage to the neighbouring containers, MP claims.

Building 81 is owned by a single landlord and managed by a facilities management company. Communication between residents and the landlord occurs through this company. However, a staff of the company could provide with little information.

“We do not know why the garbage was not picked up, as this is a matter for the landlord,” said an employee when asked if she could clarify what the issue was.

When complaints started pouring in, they were forwarded to the landlord, who said he would settle it, explained the employee.

However, this promise was not enough to rid the building of the garbage dilemma, and it would not have been resolved if it was not for the efforts of a group of residents.

“As we do not have direct access to the landlord, this was difficult to resolve. We eventually included health inspection in the matter. After they evaluated the situation, a truck was ordered to clear the garbage,” said MP. “The truck could barely carry the garbage, it was that much,” he added.


 

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