RESPONDING to a request for assistance from the Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie and arising from the reportedly untenable situation of sewage overflow in the community of Wilton Gardens (also known as Rema) in St Andrew Southern, the National Water Commission (NWC) says its waste water team last week undertook extensive cleaning exercises on the blocked sewers inside the housing development.

According to the NWC, although the internal sewers are outside of its responsibility, the commission’s team worked to correct the problems and bring some relief to the community.

The Jamaica Observer, on May 30, highlighted the situation faced by residents of the inner city community, with clogged drains and sewage backing up in toilets overflowing into yards of those who live on the ground floor of the high-rise buildings.

“After nearly four hours of removing and dislodging solid wastes from the community’s internal sewer network, the team managed to have the sewerage system cleared of all blocked-up sewage. Apart from the sewer from the buildings to the terminal manhole, all others ran freely, indicating that they are in good condition,” the NWC said in its statement Friday.

The NWC explained that the Wilton Gardens Housing Complex comprises four apartment buildings. Sewage is collected via an internal sewerage network, discharged into the public sewers on Third Street, and then transported onward to Collie Smith Drive and eventuallym the Soapberry Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The NWC said that some of the problems being experienced by the residents are as a result of: missing covers for internal manholes; aged internal sewer systems, which obviously have breakages; inappropriate discharge of various types of garbage and other solids into the sewers and drains; and clogged storm-water drains.

In imploring the residents to keep the system properly functioning, the NWC team said it is strongly urging residents to not place solid waste in the sewers and drains, and not to remove manhole covers from the system.

Pointing out that the system is presently inadequate to properly serve the population in the scheme, the NWC waste water team has also recommended both short-term and long-term steps that need to be taken to keep the system properly functioning.