A faulty sewer at apartment buildings at Cypress Hills, Union Hall, San Fernando has left tenants to battle daily with overflowing toilets, respiratory problems and skin ailments.
Unable to deal with the situation single mother Christine Cedeno and her two children aged five and eight were forced to spend the night outside their apartment on Saturday because of the overpowering pungent smell of filth.
The sewer fumes come up from the washroom and kitchen plumbing, engulfing the apartment and suffocating its occupants.
Yesterday a frustrated Cedeno and some of her neighbours staged a protest outside the buildings as they called on the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to help them.
Cedeno said more than 18 families in the apartment complex were suffering because of the smell.
She said mold grows in and around her home where the leaking sewer line flows.
“I have pink molds, black molds and orange molds. I have to clean down this house every three days and the molds grow back. My skin does scratch and we get boils on our skin,” she said, adding, “It is a nightmare living in this house. I am ready to put all our belongings in boxes and move out because this is getting me and my children sick.” She said since she moved into the apartment two years ago, the smell has worsened.
“I have condemned using the children’s washroom because at nights you can hear bubbling and then the toilet overflows with toos (faeces). All 2 and 3 o clock in the morning I have to take broom and mops to clean the toilets. It smells like ammonia,” she added.
Another tenant Aldwyn Thomas said he too was affected by the sewer fumes.
He said cockroaches, snakes and rats live in the tall bushes near the apartments.
“Walking in the house is like walking on eggshells because wherever you go the tiles pop and break,” he added. Pointing to a heap of cracked tiles in his porch, Thomas said he is forced to keep his front door continually closed because the cracked tiles posed a hazard to his children.
Another resident Marlon Smith who walks with a prosthetic leg said he cuts the bushes around the apartment for free because HDC does not maintain the buildings.
He said he found a yellow and black snake to the back of the building and was worried about the children from Cypress Hills.
“This place is too nasty. We need HDC to come in here now and clean up this place. For too long now we suffering,” he added.
A team from the HDC visited the area while Guardian Media was there.
Managing director Brent Lyons could not be reached for comment and he did not respond to messages left for him on his phone.
Housing Minister Edmund Dillon was also unavailable for comment.