Fort Amherst garbage an eyesore for tourists, says resident

A man living in Fort Amherst, at the entrance to St. John's harbour, wants a trash-filled plot of land near his home cleaned up.

Reg Smith, who has lived in the area for more than 50 years, has been trying to get someone to fix up the small, fenced off area of land for almost a decade.

He has spoken with municipal, provincial, and federal officials, and he says none of them have been able to tell him who owns the property.

The small piece of land  - covered with weeds, rubble and blowing garbage — is surrounded by a deteriorating, chain-link fence.

"It's full of garbage, the old fence is falling down — it's despicable," he said.

"We have tourists coming by here, and this is what they have to look at."

Smith says the area gets extremely congested with traffic during the busy summer tourist season, and he thinks the land could be used to expand parking.

"Personally, I'd like to see it filled in and a parking lot made — something better than what's there now," he said.

"It's a despicable mess there now and they could put anything there and it would be better than what it is."