Johnathan Moncur, a 16-year-old special needs resident of Jubilee Gardens, is forced to wear a breathing mask while he sleeps, due to the smoke that has been emanating from the nearby landfill for almost a month. His mother, Tanya Moncur, said she has had to confine Johnathan to one room in the house to ensure the most minimal impact on his health.
"At night, he just coughs all night," said Moncur.
"I've purchased a lot of air filters and everything to put in his room.
"So it kind of helps him a bit now.
"He is coping, but it is still hard.
"He has to be confined to a room when he is in the house.
"So he cannot roam about the house."
Johnathan, who interrupted his mother as she spoke, said through the muffled mask, "Children don't like smoke."
Moncur added that as an active child, who is also special needs, it has been rough for Johnathan being confined to his room.
"It's hard for him to understand," she said.
"It's difficult, so you try to tell him that the smoke is not good for him.
"He wears the mask 24/7."
Moncur also spoke of the plight of living there every day since the fire.
"Those of us that are here, it's a very hard task because we have to do a lot daily to maintain the house from the smoke," she said.
"We have to clean daily. We have to wash daily. So it's a difficult task for everybody.
"Some of the kids are out of school because of asthma or other illnesses."
Moncur said she has already spent more than $2,000 trying to remediate her home for her family, including repainting, buying new mattresses and cleaning supplies.
Residents have yet to be given the all-clear to return to their homes -- although many of them have -- and officials are still unable to say whether the quality of air in Jubilee Gardens is safe.
Kimberley Cartwright, a resident of 14 years, said she has not been home since the day of the fire.
"It is really, really rough," she said.
"I already have a respiratory issue, and with the smoke it is just outrageous. It is unacceptable.
"My problem is you are not hearing anything from the environmental people.
"You are not hearing anything from social services, other than in the news.
"... Unfortunately, a person like myself who has no job, where do you go? How do you survive this?
"Not only for me, but for my neighbors. It is nasty. It is rough.
"This is not a time to politic with the lives of the people of Jubilee Gardens. This is time for us to stand together and get something done."
Similarly, Glemis Fernander has also been out of her home since the fire.
"I am sleeping on someone's sofa," said Fernander, a resident of 11 years.
"My daughter is asthmatic.
"I can't bring her in the back here.
"I asked social services for assistance for a new mattress for her.
"They said they couldn't help me because no one has donated anything like that to them.
"She hasn't been in her bed for three weeks.
"I haven't slept in my home for three weeks.
"I don't have the comfort of my home that I am paying for, for three weeks, this is going on the fourth week.
"I came here today to see if I can clean up just enough, because I need to sleep in my bed.
"But my daughter is asthmatic and I am afraid to bring her here and let her lay on her bed."
Fernander called on social services to visit the community and seek out residents who are in dire need of assistance.
Dorothy Rolle, a resident of 13 years and owner of Alvern's Catering, demanded the issue be addressed immediately.
"We don't need the government telling us there is nothing they can do with this landfill," she said.
"There has to be something they can do.
"I have a business here that has been closed for three weeks.
"That is my livelihood. Who is going to compensate me for that?
"I have my son, I had to displace him.
"They didn't find anywhere for me to stay. I stayed with my daughter for three weeks.
"We need some answers, and we need them immediately.
"We are living this now. We are in the now."
Rolle asked, "Is this putting Bahamians first? It seems like it's putting Bahamians first to last."
Charlene Edgecombe, a resident of 12 years, suggested the government should consider relocating Jubilee Gardens residents.
She believes the issue will persist and there may be an unexpected fire where residents may not be able to save their homes or their lives.
Several of these residents have formed a group called Our Lives Matter: Jubilee Residents.
It is a homeowners association demanding that residents be informed, protected and compensated.
Melissa Alleyne-Maynard, one of the organizers of the group said, "We need updates. No one is saying anything; absolutely nothing.
"No reports, no environmental health, no NEMA; everyone is MIA, missing in action.
"We need response immediately. We are in the back here suffering.
"... We are prepared now for action.
"We need our homes remediated. We need testing carried out; we need the landfill to be re-engineered to ensure that this never occurs again.
"We need to know what has been found from environmental health and their recommendations going forward.
"We need proper compensation for the displacement and cleanup of our homes.
"We need monitors that should be placed in our homes.
"And we need the government to make us priority number one."
Alleyne-Maynard said they have drafted a letter to be sent to the prime minister, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Royal Bahamas Police Force Fire Services Department, the Department of Social Services and the Ministry of the Environment and Housing demanding they address their concerns.

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