KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Mayor of the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), Andrew Swaby, says downtown Kingston could be on the brink of a health crisis due to the constant overflow of sewage in several sections of the city.
This was disclosed as the mayor on Thursday, led a tour of key stakeholders across the capital to view the problem following complaints from people in some communities about the inconvenience they suffer due to raw sewage flowing in their communities.
According to Swaby, the problem has been ongoing without any clear plan for resolution.
” (For) Two years or so, I have been talking from when I was on the minority side, and I’m still talking about it. The KSAMC doesn’t have the responsibility, but the KSAMC has the overall responsibility of the management of the city, and that alone, the wider KSAMC has to step in and pull all the stakeholders together to get it done. It is a health crisis.
The mayor said the KSAMC and the government will have to discuss how best to deal with the situation and called on Water Minister Matthew Samuda, to outline a plan to address the problem.
Meanwhile, the Chief Public Health Inspector for Kingston and St. Andrew Grayson Hutchinson also he sewage problem downtown needs to be corrected with the greatest degree of urgency.
“It is unacceptable that we have blocked manholes overflowing with sewage, and it is our intention to determine the plans that are available to address the situation. Whenever it rains, there’s a tendency for there to be infiltration of the manhole.
“It therefore means that NWC has to be proactive, there has to be an emergency response plan in place, there needs to be a maintenance programme that is in place; there needs to be a monitoring programme that is in place so that we can address all issues that develop as quickly as possible. And so we intend to meet with them to hear about the short term and medium term plans,” he said.
In a response , the National Water Commission said it has been in constant dialogue with the municipal corporation and meeting will be convened shortly to discuss the relevant matters.
It noted that earlier this week, a crew from the agency conducted checks at sites highlighted by the KSAMC and a report is being sent to the corporation to advise of the findings.
The NWC added that while constraints prevented the team’s second visit to the sites, it looks forward to further discussions with the KSAMC.
