RESIDENTS of Cornwall Court and Green Pond in St James charge that they are now living on the verge of an epidemic, because of the presence of raw sewage being deposited in the main gully leading from the communities.

“Raw sewage has been running on the streets for the last two months and nothing has been done despite our pleas,” public relations officer for the Cornwall Court Citizens Association, Colin Taylor, told the Observer.

Yesterday raw sewage was seen spewing from a line at the intersection of Bahamas Avenue and Belize Link. The effluent runs into a drain, which empties into a gully that leads to the sea about two miles away.

Several ponds containing the faecal matter were also visible in the vicinity of the Farm All Age School, which has also been affected by the stench.

A teacher at Farm All Age School said the stench from the gully had become a regular occurrence, since the commissioning of the sewerage plant at the nearby Cornwall Court housing development.

The ponds have also been blamed for a mosquito nuisance now plaguing the Cornwall Court community.

The Cornwall Court Housing scheme, which has nearly 2,000 houses built over two years by the National Housing Trust.

“The system has not being functioning properly from the inception and this has caused the pungent scent in the nearby communities,” Taylor said.

He questioned the monthly payment of sewerage fees to the National Water Commission, while problems relating to the system go unsolved.

The Northcoast Waste Water Management Company was created to manage the sewerage plants in western Jamaica. But attempts to get a response from them, over a three-day period were unsuccessful, as the Observer was told that officials were out of office.