Leonardo Blair, Staff ReporterLONG-STANDING CONCERNS of customers of the National Water Com-mission (NWC) about sewerage problems have been picked up by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR).
The OUR has accused the NWC of negligence in how it maintains its plants and has also warned of challenging environmental consequences if malfunctioning sewerage plants are not dealt with quickly.
In its annual report on the water and sewerage sector for the period 2002/3, the OUR stated that: "The Office is of the opinion that the NWC has been negligent in the proper maintenance and functioning of these plants and thinks that if the situation is not addressed, the environmental consequences would be challenging."
Communities like Portmore in St. Catherine and Harbour View in the Corporate Area have not had a functioning plant in years. In the case of Harbour View the plant has not worked for the past 15 years. Untreated or partially treated sewage is therefore left to flow wherever it may, mainly in the harbour and in canals.
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last week, Mayor of the sprawling Portmore municipality, George Lee, said that many of the older Portmore communities were now suffering from malfunctioning sewerage plants.
The plants, he said, were releasing improperly treated sewage in major canal systems in the communities of Bridgeport and Independence City as well as in a smaller system located in Portsmouth, St. Catherine.
"Most, if not all, of the sewerage plants in Portmore (not Greater Portmore) are defective," said Mr. Lee. "There needs to be massive work on the sewerage systems in Portmore. Several complaints have been made to the NWC and they have frankly told us that they have been defective for a number of years. It's a situation that we are not happy with. The faeces is not properly treated at times and it goes straight into these canals which then run straight into the sea," said Mayor Lee.
