Zik-V clean up at fishing village

A campaign against the zika virus resulted in scores of persons descending on the Old Harbour Bay Fishing Beach last Friday for a massive clean-up.

The exercise saw the Jamaica Public Service, the National Solid Waste Management authority (NSWMA), the St Catherine Parish Council and local residents joining the day's exercise.

Some persons used brooms, rakes, shovels and front-end loader to remove the refuse.

Among the items discarded were old tyres, plastic bottles, plastic bags, foam, old fridges and other debris.

This was done under the watchful eyes of personnel from the NSWMA. "The exercise is to clean the beach of items which collect water and give hiding place to the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to lay their eggs, which can result in ZIKV, dengue and other illnesses," Moreen Scott, NSWMA's zonal monitor for St Catherine, said.

Meanwhile, Henley Banton, president of the Old Harbour Bay Fishing Beach, said it was a very good exercise and that users of the fishing facility need to maintain a clean environment.

"We are thankful, and I hope that the people who occupy the fish market and the surrounding areas will work to keep it clean," he said.

Chairman of the St Catherine Parish Council, Norman Scott, endorsed the clean-up as a "progressive step" to ZIKV prevention.

"Old Harbour Bay (fishing village) is very important to hundreds of vendors and customers, therefore, we have to keep it as best as we can," councillor for the area, Peter Davis, said.