By Mark DaCosta- Mahdia’s expanding waste depot poses a grave danger to both community wellbeing and aircraft operations, with the town’s inhabitants enduring insufferable conditions whilst those in power remain dormant despite pinpointing a replacement location years ago. This assessment derives from a statement issued today by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament Sherod Duncan.
The swelling refuse facility in Mahdia has degenerated into a catastrophe endangering both the welfare of local inhabitants and the security of aircraft traversing the town’s skies. Sherod Duncan, Member of Parliament for the People’s National Congress Reform, illuminated this deteriorating situation through his statement, pressing those in authority to intervene without delay.
Duncan disclosed that the waste heap rests within close proximity to the dwelling of resident Robert Daniels, with rubbish now advancing toward homes and the thoroughfare. “The people were already living in the area before the authorities selected the location as a dumpsite,” the parliamentarian observed, stressing the inequity thrust upon long-established households.
The Member of Parliament noted that putrid smells grow markedly worse after nightfall, with affected citizens reportedly distressed “from approximately 9 p.m. until 3 a.m.” Duncan further emphasised that “overwhelming numbers of flies and persistent odours have made daily life unbearable,” compelling inhabitants to purchase insect repellents merely to render their houses tolerable. “No resident should be forced to live under these conditions,” the MP declared.
The parliamentarian also highlighted a grave aviation hazard. Aeroplanes descending toward Mahdia’s airstrip pass directly above the uncovered refuse, which lures scavenging birds and generates what Duncan characterised as a potential bird-strike hazard. He revealed that “agencies reportedly identified an alternative location two or three years ago, yet the dumpsite has not been relocated,” unmasking prolonged administrative inertia.
Duncan has insisted that the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the regional administration cordon off and remove the waste, examine the health of those exposed, scrutinise the flight danger with expert rigour, and issue a concrete schedule for moving the facility. “Mahdia cannot continue operating with an overflowing dumpsite while its elected Council goes months without meeting and residents bear the consequences,” Duncan cautioned, rebuking officials who have forsaken people to this avoidable nightmare.
