by WENDY BURKE

THE GARBAGE has been removed, the area debushed and one resident has decided to plant a garden to help keep the vermin away.

An abandoned quarry between 8th and 9th Avenue, St Barnabas, St Michael, was a source of major concern to residents late last year, given that the bush and dumped refuse had become a breeding ground for rats and mosquitoes.

However, when a WEEKEND NATION team visited earlier this week, the area was clear and residents said it had been cleaned the week before Christmas.

The matter had come to light last October in the DAILY NATION after Yvonne Braide got the signatures of 73 other residents on a petition which
she sent from July 12 to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health; then parliamentary representative Trevor Prescod; the chief estates officer of the National Housing Corporation (NHC); and Tyrone Applewaite, the environmental officer at the Sir Winston Scott Polyclinic.

According to Braide, after this message was not acknowledged, she turned to the newspaper.

The area was overgrown with bush in which was found plastic bags, plastic bottles and even some termite infested wood, among other things.

She is now overjoyed that it is clean and hopes it remains so.

Prescod told the newspaper then that two years prior, he wanted the NHC to use the site for a housing project but was told it was not suitable, and residents later proposed a playpark and that was agreed, but nothing had happened.

Now that the area is clear, one resident, Alan Belle, has planted some crops to keep it from being used as a dump again.

New representative for the area Kenny Best, said while it was good to see the area clear, he would have to convene a meeting with the NHC as to the best possible use for the land.