Less than 24 hours after the Jamaica Observer again highlighted the unending sewage problem in the capital city’s business district, the Government has responded by starting repair works on the aged sewer system that has been flooding streets and shops and placing people’s health at risk.

On Thursday afternoon, Matthew Samuda, the minister with responsibility for the environment, was part of a team that went downtown to assess the problem and announce the Government’s plans. The team included Desmond McKenzie, Minister of Local Government and Community Development who is also Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston Western in which the market district sits.

The Observer was told that Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who is off the island, said the situation “is totally unacceptable” and ordered immediate action to have the problem remedied.

“We have been mandated to remedy the issue as quickly as possible,” Samuda said.

He described the situation as chronic and said that there is no nice way to describe it.

“The [sewer] lines on West Street and Pechon Street have virtually collapsed. We are aware that some of these lines are over 100 years old. The problem has persisted for a long time. We are very clear that it has stayed too long and we are unfortunately reaping what was sown long before our time. We have heard the cries of citizens. We understand the trauma they have been through because of the line collapse. We are moving to address it swiftly,” Samuda said.

“In the shortest term, there are vacuum trucks on Pechon Street and its environs that are pulling from the lines to reduce sewage flow. We also reached out to private sector individuals in the cesspool industry to give us additional support throughout the course of the night to reduce flows into the market space,” Samuda shared, before explaining that there is a multiplicity of issues that have caused the streets of downtown to be overrun with sewage.

He explained that a mechanical issue exists on Darling Street and said he was happy to report that new pumps that were desperately needed have arrived in Jamaica.

“The pumps are desperately needed to lift sewage out of downtown. They are actually now at Kingston Wharves and are being cleared before the end of the weekend. We expect those to be installed and completed within a week,” he said.

“As it relates to the distribution lines, some of them are clay. Some of them are over 100 years old. We have mobilised emergency works which have already started, as you can see behind us,” he told vendors, business owners and commuters.

“We will be doing 410 meters of West Street and 220 meters going straight into Matthews Lane which will clear the major blocked area which is what is backing up in the transport area and the market. The work will be in the region of $200 million,” Samuda said.

McKenzie also addressed the issue, saying that he has been made aware that the residents and the business people in the area are very upset because of the depressing conditions in which they have to live and work.

He also pointed out that the sewage problem hampers the work of the security forces and shared that senior cops responsible for the downtown region have given commitment to provide security for workmen as they fix the problem.

“We are given the assurance that they will work as late as possible. There is far more that needs to be done, but we will start with this first round. This is the heart of Jamaica’s economy and if the heart of Jamaica’s economy is not beating it means that the government revenue is going to be in problems,” McKenzie said.

“I am asking the residents and those who do business to bear a little more until we are able to remedy the situation. We will be undertaking a massive clean-up programme of the area once we have stopped the overflowing of the sewage. We are not only going to be fixing the sewage, but the road conditions around downtown and here in the market district will be taken care of,” McKenzie said.

On Thursday this week the Observer reported that wholesalers, retailers, and sidewalk vendors were calling on Prime Minister Holness to help pressure the authorities to solve the decades-old problem.

One frustrated Chinese wholesale operator on West Street was next to tears as she mopped sewage from her store on Tuesday. She said that she had lost a lot of money because sewage would sometimes flood her store and destroy goods.

“One time is okay, but tomorrow again? It is too much. In December, it make mi lose money. Water, water, water, everything was under water,” the wholesale operator lamented.

A male wholesale worker claimed that he had witnessed numerous people fall in sewage water in the market district.

“People a drop in it and have to go home and bathe and nothing is being done about it,” he lamented.

A female wholesale worker told the Observer that she became ill from the filth that has taken over the streets.

In December 2021, the Observer had reported that raw sewage was flowing at sections of Orange and West Queen streets for almost a week.

At the time this reporter saw people trying to avoid the smelly water flowing from a broken sewer main close to the Kremi ice cream store located near the intersection of Heywood and Orange streets.

The water breached the Kremi entrance, forcing the operators to clean the store and lay pallets for customers to walk on.

A Tastee restaurant was also affected by the sewage as large puddles of the waste water formed just outside the door.

Street vendors also reported a drop in sales as many shoppers avoided the area.

“It affects me bad, bad, bad because nobody nah really pass out this side to buy anything. A four day now it a gwaan so — Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday,” said one vendor who gave his name as Qually Don.