Resident of João da Noly complains about bad smell caused by pigsties near his residence

Jorge Freitas contacted Inforpress to complain about this situation and stated that these days he and his wife have been feeling a lot of flu due to the bad smells that torment them every day.

“It's a lack of respect, my neighbor raises pigs, however, the pigsties are right below my house and the bad smell is constant every day. I can’t open the window in my house because the smell is unbearable”, he highlighted.

This resident said that he had already spoken to his neighbor about the inconvenience and suggested that she raise pigs in a more distant place, but she did not want to accept the suggestion and stated that she had built the pigsty long before the house existed.

“In fact, the pigsties already existed before I lived here, but what is at stake is my health and that of my family. Pigsties can easily be built in other places, but not my house, however the city council's code of conduct clearly states that this type of practice is not allowed in the neighborhood”, he highlighted.

Jorge Freitas also said that he has already contacted the Brava City Council and made the complaint several times, but so far nothing has been resolved and the pigsty remains in the same place, harming his family.

“I don't know what's going on, I've already reported it to the city council several times and showed them my situation, however the inspectors came to see for themselves, but after that absolutely nothing was resolved and they didn't give me any explanation”, he stressed.

In this sense, Jorge Freitas promised to go to the last resort, if the competent authorities do not take any measure to resolve this problem.

“If the local authority does not take any measures to resolve this situation, which is very unpleasant, I will go to court, suing the city council and you, because this is already an abuse”, he concluded.

In reaction, the president of Brava City Council, Francisco Tavares, admitted that the code of behavior is clear and there should be no pigsties and certain types of animal husbandry, so close to homes because they put public health at risk.

However, the mayor highlighted that many people in the municipality live from raising animals and others do not have lots or land elsewhere to build pigsties.

“Here on the island, it is very difficult for the council to build a municipal piggery, taking into account that the locations are dispersed and the breeders live very far from each other, the right thing would be a unit in each area, but that would be impossible”, he explained.

In this situation Francisco Tavares, said that when he receives complaints from residents about the bad smell, the inspectorate will “pedagogically” speak to family members who are raising animals, drawing their attention to hygiene and calling for its improvement, while there are no solutions.

“The municipality is open to help and we often provide materials to build septic tanks or sewers for the pigsties, so it is up to the owner to clean daily or every other day, so as not to “proliferate” the smell that it ends up bothering the neighbors”, he highlighted.

Furthermore, he also informed that after at least three contacts with the breeding families, if they do not comply with their obligations and the council's demands, the solution is to “coercively” close the pigsty in question.

“We are looking to find a better solution to this problem so that no one is harmed”, he concluded.

Text: Inforpress

Photo: Bravanews