Sitting on a time bomb

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Government has assured stakeholders in Westmoreland that action will be taken to devise a plan towards building a central sewerage system in the parish capital of Savanna-la-Mar, in an effort to advance the development of housing solutions and commercial facilities, now stalled with the absence of a modern facility to dispose of human waste.

That assurance was given Wednesday by Homer Davis, minister of state in the Office of the Prime Minister, West, with responsibility for special projects, after learning of the challenges with which developers are faced.

Davis said pit latrines and absorption pits are things of the past and, in order to prevent contamination of the water sources, including the coastline, there is in fact an immediate need for a central sewerage system in the parish.

NOT A SMALL PROJECT

“It is needed, and the idea of putting in a major sewerage system, in my mind, would be one of the most critical things right now. That is something that we need to be shouting out because it won’t be a small project,” Davis said.

He was responding to the challenges shared by Moses Chaybar, president of the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the newly elected members of parliament in the parish, in not having a central sewerage system and for consideration to be given for one to be constructed.

“Westmoreland is very low, so we have to be very careful that we do not get our sea coast contaminated with all of these pits that are littered across the parish,” noted Davis. “It is something that needs to come on the front burner. We can’t, in this modern day and age, be operating this way.”

In the absence of a central sewerage system, the pit latrine remains the major type of facility used by the residents among the 150,000 strong Westmoreland population.

According to the Social Development Commission (SDC) 2013 parish profile for Westmoreland, pit latrine was the most prevalent type of toilet facility used by households in the parish, which accounted at the time for 62.6 per cent of households.

That figure superseded the national percentage of 32.3 of households which used pit latrines. The SDC data showed that water closets were utilised by 31.9 per cent of households and approximately 23 per cent of those households shared toilet facilities.

Chybar, the parish’s chamber boss, in highlighting the myriad of challenges, said the commercial district of Savanna-la-Mar has grown over the years, albeit without a central sewerage system.

“That has been a very big problem over the years. It has been standing in the way of development, [because] there are several housing projects that would have been completed already, even by the NHT (National Housing Trust), but that has been one of the concerns because of where the lands are located,” Chybar said.

The Westmoreland businessman also noted that, while developments are taking place, the infrastructural work is not going at the same pace, which creates logistical challenges.

PARISH FLOOD PRONE

George Wright, the Westmoreland Central member of parliament, is wary of the absence of a central sewerage system, especially since the parish is located below sea level and is prone to flooding.

But for Moreland Wilson, the MP for Westmoreland Western, the issue of sewage continues to be a problem, even with a sewage plant in the resort town of Negril. He told stakeholders that informal settlers are contaminating the water table there, as human waste is seeping into the morass.

“We do have a sewage system in Negril, but there is still an issue because [people in] informal settlements in the area who are not connected to the existing sewage network are emptying their waste into the morass,” Wilson explained.

Responding to Wilson, Davis said the parish is in a bad state in terms of the management of its human waste. “That means we are sitting on a time bomb,” he lamented.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com