Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Illegal dump causes a stink
Hundreds of residents protest over flies and rats nightmare
HUNDREDS of residents are living in a fly-ridden, rat-infested nightmare because of illegal dumping on their doorstep.
One couple in their 80s have been trapped in their Tennent Street home in North Belfast and unable to make basic meals because of the swarms of flies getting inside.
Another family with four young children have fled their home to a caravan in the hope the authorities will deal with the tonnes of rubbish.
The shocking pile includes rotting food and furniture, household rubbish, clinical waste and even asbestos dumped illegally in the middle of a community.
Mum Ashlea Dunn said: “We have had no choice but to move out of our house in order to keep our children safe because of the amount of flies that have been invading our home. We have filled up bottle after bottle trying to catch them all but it just doesn’t seem to stop.
“The whole area has been plagued by this for weeks and the only reason we came back here today was for the protest to demand that this is cleaned up.
“Although, everyone here is worried there is going to be a mass invasion of rats in our homes as they all scurry away from that enormous pile of rubbish.”
The issue started in an empty warehouse off the Crumlin Road and three areas have been identified as illegal dumps.
The PSNI, Belfast City Council, the Environment Agency and others are now believed to be working together with the community to bring the matter to a conclusion.
A contractor has been appointed to clear the waste and has already started work removing the illegal dumping ground.
It cannot come too soon for Amy, 86, and George Quigley, 88, who have been trapped in their home for weeks.
The pair both have serious lung conditions and are shielding at home but they are not able to go outside for a cup of tea due to the flies.
Amy said: “It is dreadful, we can’t make a cup of tea or anything because of the flies, and you can forget about making yourself a fry in the morning, because they get stuck in the eggs.” A protest, organised yesterday by Woodvale Community Response, hoped to put pressure on the authorities to remove the illegal dump that was making local residents’ lives hell.
North Belfast MP John Finucane had attended the event in order to lend some support to the community, however, upon arrival he was quickly met by a hostile atmosphere.
He was shouted and swore at by protesters who told him to “go home”.
Mr Finucane then promptly left after a brief discussion with one of the leading organisers of the protest.
However, the Sinn Fein MP said he had spoken with the head of the Environment Agency yesterday who confirmed that a contractor had been hired to remove the waste within the next 24 hours.