Centreville residents say that the curfews are giving outsiders cover to dump, making their garbage and rodent problems worse.
Lonis Augustave, 35, of John Chipman Street, said that dumping has increased since the curfews have started.
Augustave said that people target empty lots in his neighbourhood.
“People from other areas come around to dump when the curfew hits and no one is looking,” he said.
He said the indiscriminate dumping provides a breeding ground for rats.
“It’s like the rats are having a family party some places around here where they keep dumping,” said Augustave.
He also said derelict vehicles are hot spots for rodents. “Old cars! They love old cars, bey,” Augustave said of the rats.
Shyan Chipman, 47, a Centreville community activist, said that the trash problem is much worse because of the constituency’s dense population compared to the suburbs.
Chipman said that even more persons are at home and creating trash because of the curfews and lack of work for many.
“Garbage already used to pile up quickly before the pandemic, so imagine now when you have a full house with a father or mother and 5 to 6 kids who are home pretty much all day,” said Chipman.
Chipman also said he thinks bins placed in the area would curb the dumping as “sometimes people don’t have the means to properly dispose of their old items.”
Deputy Chief Health Inspector Shanty Richards said the work has gotten more challenging for him and his colleagues at the Department of Environmental Health since the pandemic.
“We used to monitor for dumping, but now we rely heavily on the public’s assistance,” Richards said.
Richards said that the culprits normally would target less populated communities.
“With the curfews, most people are inside by a particular time, so they just pull up and dump because they know it is unlikely anyone will see them,” Richards added.
He said that his department is often successful in finding culprits through interagency investigations once they have promptly received the information.
“If we cannot find those responsible, the Government has to foot the bill for cleaning up whatever mess is left behind,” he said.
Richards said that the dumping is unnecessary because there are free bins at the landfill site entrance.
He also said that the department has initiated garbage collection twice a week to minimize neighbourhood trash.
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