The foul stench and flies from a nearby quarry is damaging the reputation of Coral Ridge Memorial Gardens, and its owners do not intend to roll over and play dead.
President of Coral Ridge, Peter Griffith, told members of the media yesterday they had done all they could in terms of meeting with the offenders and calling in health officials, with limited relief, since the problem started about three months ago.
Attorney-at-law Denis Chandler has been retained and the owners will make a determination on the next step they will take on Monday morning.
“We believe that it is a matter we will have to address in the law courts of Barbados,” said Griffith.
He added that they made a vow to the public when they opened the building and crematorium in 2003 and cemetery in 2006, that they would deliver an excellent service, and while they had delivered, that commitment was under threat.
He explained that Coral Ridge was in an agricultural zone and surrounded by plantations and chicken farms. He said the odour and flies were coming from a nearby quarry at Searles Plantation, where chicken dung from a farm owned by Chickmont Foods is being dumped. Griffith said it was his understanding that the dung was to be turned into compost.
“From the time it started we were inundated with flies. The odour is terrible,” he charged. (YB)