MONTEGO BAY, St James – Councillor Dwight Crawford (Jamaica Labour Party, Spring Garden Division) has warned residents in Bogue Village rearing chickens in the residential community that “strict action” will be taken against them if they choose not to take their commercial activities elsewhere.

“I am asking these perpetrators to desist from doing this because we will be coming for them and we will bring them to bear,” a strident Crawford told the Jamaica Observer West in an exclusive interview.

Stating that he was made aware of residents operating poultry farms in their backyards, the councillor argued that “Bogue Village is not that kind of community”.

“People from the community called me to report that before the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) comes to collect the garbage at night, the dogs tear the garbage up and they have observed some very unusual things in garbage like the heads of chickens that we call common fowl,” said Crawford.

“It would appear as though the residents from the homes whose garbage are being exposed are actually raising chickens in their backyards,” added Crawford, who is the councillor for Bogue Village.

Citing unsanitary and health concerns, Crawford told the Observer West that he shares the disgruntlement of the residents who simply want to live a peaceful life in their community.

“Firstly, it smells very bad because you know that wherever you have livestock there is a foul smell coming from the faeces of the animals. That is the main issue being raised by the residents,” said Crawford.

“The waste material from the chicken coops comes on the road and extends the foul smell far beyond close proximity to where the chicken coops are located. When material like that goes into the water system, who knows what kind of illnesses it may cause? It is pretty dangerous for that kind of commercial activity to be taking place in a residential community like Bogue Village, if you ask me.”

Lamenting the rearing of chickens, allegedly by multiple residents in the community, Crawford told the Observer West that “this is a blatant disregard for their neighbours and the environment.”

“I have received three reports about separate chicken coops being in operation in the community. This is an example of some of the challenges that we have to deal with, and I know many times citizens look at issues like this and want to blame government officials, Ministry of Health or the solid waste team, but we are not the ones causing these problems,” he argued.

“Sometimes the citizens of this country are the ones causing some of these problems on themselves then we have to come clean it up.”

Added Crawford: “It is not strangers from outside who are doing this, it is the same people who live in these spaces creating the problems on themselves. When they have an infestation of rats, roaches and all sorts of other weird things, they wonder where it comes from. It comes from the poor conduct of their own community members,” the councillor maintained.

To the residents creating this nuisance in Bogue Village, the councillor’s message is loud and clear.

“I would like to appeal to residents not only within the Bogue Village area, but beyond the area, to lease a piece of the land where you can conduct your commercial activities in a space where it doesn’t encroach on the safety and peace of your neighbours,” he urged.

The councillor further told the Observer West that, “I am not saying that raising chicken is a bad thing, but there is a place for it and that is not in a residential area. Commercial activities and commercial waste should not be in a place where there is a housing development. That is bad in all areas. I support business and I support people doing business, but this is an unfortunate situation.”

This kind of conduct in the middle of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Crawford said, feels like residents are adding insult to injury.

“We experienced two years of stress and strain, so I think the pandemic should have shown us that if we do not conduct ourselves properly, we can create all kinds of disasters that go far beyond Jamaica. It should have taught us that we need to conduct ourselves a little bit better so we do not end up in another space where we have a breakout of a virus or disease. The environment is not conducive for that kind of commercial conduct,” Crawford argued.

St James’ Chief Public Health Inspector Sherika Lewis, in the meantime, is calling for a multi-agency approach to “abating this nuisance”.

“Ideally, the public health does not deal with the structure in terms of boning, so the municipal corporation has the covenant like building codes that residents should be guided by. In terms of dismantling the structure, the municipal corporation should carry out their responsibility. What we intend to do is work along with them, so we can do the inspection and use the nuisance regulations to serve a statutory notice,” Lewis explained.

“There is The Keeping of Animals Act where the [police] constable is named as the enforcer, so the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has a role to play in that jurisdiction. It can be a multi-agency approach where all the agencies do their part in ensuring that these types of operations do not occur in residential areas.”

A Bogue Village resident, who said that she is aware of chicken-rearing activities in the community, is pleading for the authorities to act swiftly in an effort to dismantle the poultry farms.

“The authorities need to tell them to keep the community clean and remove that eyesore. The dogs are always littering the animal [remains] on the road,” said the resident, who requested anonymity.

Speaking specifically to one of the poultry farms, the resident noted that “this poultry farmer’s chicken coop is visible from the roadway.”

“They have a chicken coop that is built higher than their wall and that is also an eyesore for the community. You will see it as you come around the roundabout,” the resident told the Observer West.