THE OFFICE of Utilities Regulation has accused the National Water Commission of focussing on the operations of the North Coast Wastewater District (NCWD), which was recently developed to provide wastewater services to the Negril, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios areas, whilst ignoring other treatment facilities, especially in the Metro and Southern Regions.
Ignored are communities such as Harbour View in Kingston, where the central sewerage treatment plant has been out of operation since 1987. Just two weeks ago Minister of Water and Housing, Donald Buchanan, in response to Opposition questions in Parliament, said some of the community's untreated sewage was now going directly into the sea.
"Yes, a portion of the discharge of raw sewage goes into the Kingston Harbour, but the major part goes into the outer harbour," the Minister had said.
"This plant (Harbour View sewerage plant) was constructed in the late 1950s and by 1987, when it became inoperable, it had long out-lived its useful engineering life of 20 years.
DECISION
"The fact that it has not been replaced is not a deliberate decision on anybody's part. This plant was constructed by a developer as part of the Harbour View development and was subsequently taken over by the NWC for operation and maintenance. The tariff rates given to NWC over the years have never been sufficient to allow for capital cost recovery and replacement of the plant."
Despite this explanation by the Water Minister, the OUR's report of negligence by the NWC explained that some $142 million was made available in 1999 to the NWC to rehabilitate wastewater facilities, however, this was not done .
"The money has been used in potable water projects whilst the wastewater treatment facilities continue to be operated in a deplorable condition."
PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENT
The report further states that the NWC has acknowledged that a number of its plants are not in compliance with the environmental standards stipulated by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and are currently negotiating a timetable to bring them into compliance.
Meanwhile Charles Buchanan, public relations manager at the NWC, said the Commission has spent about $3 billion on new sewerage systems in the island in the last two years and there were plans afoot for a US$400 million waste water improvement project in Kingston.
Despite this, however, he noted that the tariffs currently allowed the Commission by the OUR is inadequate to address all sanitation problems.
The NWC provides sewerage services to 30 per cent of the population, with approximately 400,000 customers. It operates 100 sewage treatment plants, and 850 treated water storage facilities.
Three new systems were recently acquired by the NWC to handle sewage in Negril, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay.
