Tenants of Broad Street apartment building living in fear of African bees

Jan 14, 2013 News

Tenants of an African-bee-infested apartment building located on Broad Street are desperately calling for the swift removal of the dangerous insects, fearing that one day the consequences could be catastrophic if they are not.

This tenant said that she was stung on several parts of her body yesterday.

This was after a tenant suffered several stings from the bees yesterday.
The bees have been on the premises for several years and the appeals of the owner and the tenants have been falling on deaf ears.
One tenant, Leroy Vanderhyden has “had it with the bees.” He explained that as recent as Saturday evening, his elderly mother was attacked while taking a bath.
The man’s mother told Kaieteur News that she was in the bathroom when she heard a strange sound, and upon looking up, she realized that it was the buzzing of the bees, which appeared threatening.
“I had to just pull the towel to cover myself and run out. My foot is not well and I had to run out of there. My foot is paining really bad right now,” the woman lamented.
The aged woman said that she can no longer handle such a frightening situation.
“The bees are in the wall. We got to sleep with the lights off just to make sure that the bees don’t come into our bedroom. It’s very scary.”
Another tenant of the building told this publication that she is scared for the lives of her young children. Her sons, ages seven and three were both attacked and had to be taken for medical treatment.
“These bees does kill people and it needs to be taken care of before something bad happens,” the woman said.
The landlady of the building, which is located close to the Child Protection Agency, said that she had contacted the Agriculture Ministry on many occasions.
The woman added that she made her last call to the Ministry just two weeks ago, and was told that the “team” responsible for such situations is not available. She was then given a number to call a private exterminator.
The exterminator, she explained, inspected the place and said that she would have to pay him $40,000, plus arrange for scaffold to be erected around the building.
“Where am I going to find that amount of money…I can’t afford that. If I could’ve, I would have, because I know how dangerous it is,” the woman posited.
She is therefore asking that the Ministry of Agriculture assist with the situation as there are small children living in the building.