Board Villa waiting for development

For many families living in Board Villa in Denham Town, West Kingston, the biggest problem is not just the leaking roofs, overflowing sewage or deteriorating bathrooms. It is the uncertainty.

Residents say they have spent years hearing that redevelopment is coming. More recently, they say, they have been repeatedly discouraged from carrying out major building works because the area is expected to be redeveloped. However, with no firm timeline announced, many feel trapped between fixing their homes and waiting for what may come.

“For this longest while mi want finish and I was told to not build any further,” 46-year-old Evenne Francis told THE STAR.

“Since the year start, we hear ‘don’t build nothing’ and then we hear say is April, then May, then another month. We really just need a concrete date.”

Francis said the lack of certainty has left residents hesitant to invest in their homes.

“Nobody wants to build and spend their money and then the government come and tear it down,” she said.

A walk through Board Villa revealed rows of ageing board-and-zinc structures crowded together along sections of Nelson Street and Wellington Street. While other parts of Denham Town have benefited from newer housing developments, residents say conditions in Board Villa have remained largely unchanged.

The community, which residents estimate houses more than 80 families, is heavily reliant on communal facilities.

“The toilet dem are in a deplorable condition. Everyone in this space share these five bathrooms,” Francis said.

The conditions are made worse by concerns about safety. Houses sit close together, connected by narrow pathways that residents fear could become deadly in an emergency.

“If one house catch a fire, everybody suffer because there is little space for anybody to run with anything,” Francis said.

For 23-year-old Shaniqua Burford, the prospect of improved housing has been discussed for as long as she can remember.

“A from mi likkle bit me a hear say them a guh fix yah so,” said Burford, who has lived in the area since 2003.

She described a community struggling with overflowing manholes, foul odours and recurring cockroach infestations.

“Yuh see when the manhole buss? In a the house dem full a cockroach and the community smell real stink,” she complained.

Burford said the smell can sometimes become overwhelming.

“It literally make whole heap a people vomit. All me weh live yah so mi vomit, vomit, mi affi go doctor,” she said.

She also pointed to the condition of many homes in the area, noting that her mother has had to replace sections of their zinc roof several times this year because of persistent leaks.

Still, residents say they remain hopeful.

“I like the house they have been building around the area, I’m not gonna lie,” Burford said.

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness said that the Government intends to allocate funds in the next Budget for a major rehabilitation, repair and maintenance programme targeting ageing housing developments in Kingston Western and other urban communities.