Staff at the St Ann’s Bay tax office report an awful smell from the area of the open lot across the road. The unkempt lot, sandwiched between Harbour Street, and between the North Coast Highway. The spourve of the foul odour is an old brick building part of the wharves that served St Ann’s Bay when it was a major shipping port. Alll those buildings are in various states of disarray and dereliction. But the one almost facing the tax office has been used for the disposal of body wastes and as a toilet for people living nearby who have no sanitary convenience. The building was condemned last year by the St Ann Parish Council, and at one time was fenced off by a big landowner who claimed it. In addition to the mess there, just a few feet away is the clogged drain seen here. Most of it is the greenish colour of algae and the black of long settlement, perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. Four government agencies have a role or are affected by it: The St Ann’s Bay Tax office, the St Ann Parish Council, the St Ann Health department – and all of them are within 300 yards of this mess.
