Some residents of St Thomas are calling for the controversial B’s Bottle Depot and Metal Dump to be removed from the parish as soon as possible.
Yesterday morning, for almost two hours, people from Shop Hill, Belle Road, Arthur Seat, Bridgefield and Cane Garden, some wearing masks, marched peacefully up and down Reece Road where the operation is located.
The protesters, including parliamentary representative Cynthia Forde, sang gospel songs and displayed placards which carried messages of frustration and demands for the depot and dump to be removed.
Don’t Let Us Breathe Contaminated Air, Carry The Dump By You, Mr Hullabaloo, We Demand Action From The Government Authorities Now, B’s Dust We Out And Now Them Smoking We Out, Reece Road Is A Living Hell and Health Is Not Recyclable, were some of the messages.
Forde told the SUNDAY SUN she was satisfied with the “wonderful” turnout from residents as she believed it showed they were conscious of their rights and at the same time committed to the task of ensuring they were able to breathe fresh, clean air again.
“Reece Road is not a very long road, but it is a very hazardous road because we are marching and singing and we are inhaling so many nauseous fumes. Our throats are hurting, our lips are tingling because of the operations that continue in this place,” said the Member of Parliament.
“I am glad that the immediate residents are an integral part of what we are doing this morning because today is their day; next week it may be ours, yours or somebody else’s. They have been ignored for too long.”
While the residents protested, a group of suppliers staged a demonstration opposite the main entrance to the operation in support of B’s staying. The group, who said they were stakeholders, stood at the side of the road with placards, some of which said: Save The Gullies, Imagine A Community Free From Waste All Because Of B’s.
One man with that group, who sold recyclables to B’s, said the residents were being unfair in their actions and called for them to “give the man at least three months to get some place to go”.
“You can’t just shut down a business just so. If it was a white man the business would still go on; that is all I got to say,” he added.
Forde said she considered the demonstration to be grave disrespect.
Resident Barbara Maynard said she came out to march for justice because “it should not be just about money; people’s health should come first”.
Burton Hurley asked: “Would you live in this area? Would you buy property in this area?’
He also wondered what someone would do if they went abroad, returned with their hard earned savings and invested in a home only to find out a couple of years later they were living next door to a dump.
“Nobody is going to be happy with that at all. That’s enough to make people angry and want to do something about it,” said Hurley.
Toleta Bayne, 79, indicated that her hip was hurting and “the foot ain’t the best”, but after finding out about the protest minutes after it started, she sourced the strength to march for justice.
“I come out to support one of the brothers at the church because the dust and thing bothering him and his wife does suffer with sinuses,” Bayne said.
One young resident, who requested anonymity, praised the “fantastic” job that B’s has done to protect the environment. However, she believed the dump negatively impacted the safety and well-being of residents.
“He (the owner) needs to find a better environment to do this recycling,” she said. “If you are really saying you care about the environment, then you don’t want to come and damage prime agriculture land and you don’t want to come and cause ill health to people.”
