HGP Nightly News – An overflowing dumpsite sits less than 40 feet from a Mahdia home and directly beneath the flight path of aircraft approaching the town’s airstrip, prompting APNU MP Sherod Duncan to demand urgent government action.
Duncan said residents living near the Mahdia municipal dumpsite are being exposed to persistent foul odours, fumes, flies and piles of garbage that are reportedly spreading towards homes and the roadway.
Resident Robert Daniels told Duncan that the smell and fumes become particularly intense at night, at times lasting from approximately 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.
He also described the constant presence of flies and the additional expense of purchasing insect spray to keep his home bearable.
But beyond the public-health concerns, Duncan is warning of a potential aviation safety risk.
He said aircraft fly directly over the dumpsite while approaching the Mahdia airstrip and that exposed garbage could attract scavenging birds, creating a potential bird-strike hazard.
Duncan said he was informed that an alternative location had reportedly been identified two or three years ago, but the dumpsite remains in its current location.
He is calling on the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, regional authorities and the Mahdia Mayor and Town Council to contain the site, assess the health risks, evaluate the aviation concerns and publish a firm timeline for relocation.
Duncan said Mahdia residents should not have to continue living beside an overflowing dumpsite while the authorities fail to resolve the problem.
