The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has warned that it will, within a few months, be going after sewage plant operators who continue to flout the Natural Resources Conservation Authority’s (NRCA’s) standards.

According to Winsome Townsend, NEPA’s director of strategic planning policies and projects, the agency was concerned that many sewage plants were not operating according to required standards.

“We are in the process of finalising wastewater and sludge regulations that speak to trade and sewage effluent and under the regulations, which should become operational in a few months, we will be introducing a fine to address non-compliance with NRCA standards for sewage effluent,” Townsend told a meeting of the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee of Parliament this week.

She said a number of the plants were operated by the National Water Commission (NWC) and others by housing developers and other entities.

Up to 2003, there were more than 90 sewage treatment plants in Jamaica, 61 of which were owned by the NWC.

In the meantime, NEPA has promised to take a look at several developments taking place within the Paddington Terrace community in St Andrew.

Committee chairman Robert Pickersgill (Opposition) said he was concerned that the apartment buildings were over 90 per cent complete and still had no facilities for sewage.

“How come those people got the approval to proceed? Just in terms of simple logic, the lots on Paddington are one-acre lots with single homes, so the sewage system that was envisaged for that would be okay but once you start to go around to townhouses the system has to be changed,” he said.

Committee member Everald Warmington (Government) said there were several other individuals who wanted to undertake similar developments at Paddington Terrace, but were turned down by the NWC on the basis of the sewer situation.