????SOME?RESIDENTS?at Webb Hill, Church Village, St Philip, will not be singing merrily on high this Christmas because of the stings coming from cow itch pods in a nearby field across from Her Majesty’s Prisons Dodds.
The Saturday Sun was taken on a brief tour across rugged terrain by some residents and pointed to a stretch of overgrowth they said is owned by the Prisons and harbours the plant.
“Out here in a mess, you don’t want to touch your bed,” said Lolita Wiggins, one of the residents.
Wiggins, who wears a tracheotomy tube, said the “hair” from the cow itch plant sticks to material, causing her great discomfort.
“This thing don’t let you sleep. I changed about three shirts,” added Carlston Wiggins.
He said the only way to get rid of the matter was to burn the cow itch.
Donville Inniss, Minister of Health, was aware of the situation as he spoke to residents, the Superintendent of Prisons and health officers at Six Roads yesterday.
“They were all investigating and I have not had any further reports of cow itch. If there is, then the officers will do all that they can do immediately,” said Inniss.
The minister said there was “a cow itch programme on the island and the Ministry of Health is trying its best to address it before it becomes a public health nuisance. The main areas of concern are in St John and St George”.
Emerson Clarke, assistant chief officer of the Prisons at Dodds, in responding to the Saturday Sun has promised to investigate the matter.
“If [cow itch] is out there, we will send a crew [today] to chop down any that is there,” he said. (JS)
