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The Housing Agency of Jamaica Limited (HAJL) recently called for technical consultants to assist with a housing project for Bay Farm Road in St Andrew.

The HAJL is proposing a development of "a six three-story apartment complex which includes 72 housing units".

Residents are over the moon and are eagerly anticipating these developments, as they have been living in undesirable conditions.

Ronald Rodney, 55, told THE WEEKEND STAR that one aspect that needs immediate action is the roofing of the housing units.

"Whenever the rain fall like all now, the roof leak and all who in a the middle and bottom floor a wet up. That a the biggest problem right now. All a dem roof here afi go do over back. The leaking housetops is the main problem," Rodney said.

For Carlene Lindsay, a resident of Bay Farm Villa, the biggest challenge is the lack of adequate spacing for garbage disposal.

Upgrading of the scheme

"We need a rubbish house fi the scheme and they (HAJL) said they were going to deal with it ... it was suppose to come in from January. But really and truly, we just need a upgrading of the scheme. But we need the rubbish house first and foremost," she said, noting that various persons have visited and outlined development prospects.

At present, there are three skips in the scheme, but the one at the front, where there is more occupancy, is used by most residents. As a result, it is usually overflowing with garbage for lengthy periods. The skips have no roofs so when it rains, rainwater fills them and carries garbage in a stream throughout the community.

"The rubbish house just need fi pull down and rebuild. The rubbish always scatter out and the dogs drag them all over. And the scent nuh nice. Most times even the car park dirty because of it, because there's no gate. So the animals go in and draw the rubbish all over the place," Lindsay said, also calling for an upgrading of the walls around the scheme's perimeters.

Another resident, Anthony Skyers, 47, said there was also a problem with drainage and overflowing sewage in some sections.

But Mitchell Rowe, president of the Olympic Gardens Community Development Committee Benevolent Society, told THE WEEKEND STAR that residents have their part to play in creating a comfortable environment.

"There are a lot of issues that you can see just by looking, but it all boils down to us as community people. For instance, the garbage housing. It's one of our problems, but the people are the problem too. We need to work together and start here, before we go outside and call people to rectify the problems in the community," Rowe said. "We did a fundraising and said we were going to tear down the garbage house and reconstruct it. Persons in the scheme had issues with it. So I decided to leave it alone and say let Housing Trust or HAJL deal with it."

THE WEEKEND STAR team contacted HAJL to ascertain a timeline for the project, but calls to the agency went unanswered.