Dust is killing us - Majesty Gardens fed up with dirt everywhere

W hen Sharon Lindsay invited the news team inside her home yesterday, she instantly cautioned us to keep our shoes on stating that our footwear are much cleaner than her home.

After shovelling a pile of dirt from her balcony, she pointed to her dust-covered furniture that one could easily write a paragraph on. Everything in her Majesty Gardens, St Andrew, house were covered in dust - bed linens, sofas, utensils. Even her toilet bowls!

Lindsay said that she and other residents in the tough inner-city community that sits on the edge of Portia Simpson Miller Square have been forced to live like this for months. The dust nuisance is a result of major work being done in the square. Motorists travelling from Marcus Garvey Drive have been detouring through the area as the nearby Portia Simpson Miller Square has been closed to vehicular traffic.

"I recently did a surgery where I removed one of my breast so this type of thing is not good for my health or anyone's health on a whole. I have to clean and dust my house every hour and it doesn't make any sense. I catch a whole heap of cold and I have to stock up on Vitamin C just to get cold less. The dust a kill we off round here and no one nuh business with wi," she said.

Lindsay said that residents try to keep down the dust by sprinkling water on to the roadway, but with the community experiencing frequent water lock-offs, they are often unsuccessful. They said that yesterday was the first time that a truck drove through the area and attempted to sprinkle the dusty roads.

Taste and feel of dust

The taste and feel of dust was in the air as irate residents erected roadblocks in the community yesterday to protest against the dust nuisance.

Protecting her face with a shirt, Diana Hencelwood showed The STAR a bag with several different medication, while stating that three of her children are currently suffering from asthmatic and bronchial issues.

"The pharmacists dem used to my face because every minute I am there and every second mi deh a Children's Hospital with one a dem. One of my children have tonsillitis and I recently got an appointment for her to take out her tonsils. We can't live like this," she said.

Hencelwood and other residents accused the motorists of being uncaring stating that their constant speeding through the area are usually followed by clouds of dust.

"Dem drive like them no have a care in the world. When all the trailer dem pass more time all the black, black person turn white. Every minute we have to brush our teeth around here because as we open we mouth a bare dust full it up. A bare dusk mask we a wear and a use things cover we face like we a gunman,"a woman said.

As the women showed The STAR their dust saturated homes, groups of men stood vigilantly beside the barriers redirecting a queue of vehicle. A 'brave' driver decided that he was not going to follow orders and attempted to move one of the barriers but had to make a quick retreat to his vehicle after he was given a stern warning from one of the men.

"Whenever we protest or beg the drivers them to slow down, them cuss us and say we are creatures. Well we are going to act like creatures then and start 'boom' some things in dem head and vehicle when dem a pass. They are treating us like animals so we are going behave like we are animals until we get results," a woman shouted.