KINGSTON, Jamaica – Harbour View residents, and some people who traverse Norman Manley Boulevard in eastern Kingston, are livid over the failure of the authorities to address raw sewage which has been flowing from a manhole in the area for weeks.

The residents on Tuesday pointed OBSERVER ONLINE to the manhole which is located just outside the Seascape housing scheme, close to the Harbour View roundabout. They noted that the flowing smelly water on the road mainly affects people travelling east towards the roundabout.

One frustrated Harbour View resident, told the Observer that he has been hitching to go public about the health hazard because he is convinced that if it is reported by the media the authorities might finally fix it.

“This thing has been going on for over a month now. Some heavy rainfall last week and from then until now it has been flowing. It doesn’t look good. Every day and night you have to be driving through sewage. It is the main road leading to Harbour View, the Norman Manley International Airport and St Thomas.

“That can’t be healthy. We would really love for it to be sorted out,” said the resident as he pointed to a food establishment close to where the sewage forms huge puddles on the roadway at times.

“I would like some light to be shed on the situation,” declared the frustrated resident who did not give his name.

He was supported by a female resident who described the situation as ugly.

“The water has been running for over a month now, right at Seascape, all the way going back facing Danny’s Marina. Even under air conditioning, you can smell the stench. It is not a pretty sight and the stench is not pretty either. If something can be done about it, I would like that to happen.

Can you imagine driving in a car, under air conditioning and stench is coming in on you? No man, something has to be done about this,” said the woman.

When OBSERVER ONLINE visited the area a vendor close to the gates of the Seascape housing development, was spotted wearing a mask which she said was for more than protection against COVID-19.

“Everybody who pass here have to smell it. I would say it even slow up business for me. It is a disaster. You don’t see that? I never see anything like this yet in Harbour View,” the woman said.

Although she claimed that no motorist has splashed her yet with sewage, the chances of that happening one day appeared to be high based on the amount of sewage flowing on the road settling into puddles in some cases.

OBSERVER ONLINE called the cellular phone of Oliver Clue, councillor of the Harbour View Division for a comment on Friday but did not get through to the veteran politician. The person who answered his phone, told the news team that Clue, as well as the president of the Harbour View Citizens’ Association have reported the problem to authorities.

“There has been no response. The problem has been there for a good while. They have tried their best to deal with the appropriate authorities. The citizens’ association and councillor Clue have been vocal about it. We need someone to tell us why they are not dealing with the matter,” the person said.

The problem has also affected teachers and students of the Neptune Basic School in the area.

Teacher at the institution, Tracey Lee, described the situation as terrible and said students and teachers find it hard to avoid the mess.

“When we come off a vehicle on the other side and we are crossing over, we can’t escape it. We have to step in it to cross over. Sometimes I have to shout for somebody to bring sanitiser before I go inside. I have to go to the pipe and clean the bottom of my shoes before I step in. We have had to restrict parents from coming on the compound.

“The stench is horrible. On Monday, a vehicle passed and splashed four persons. They had to wash off. We try to keep the children inside. On Tuesday, because people have to be swerving, there was an accident in which there was at least one fatality. We are pleading especially because of the basic school and the health centre nearby. We need it to be rectified permanently. This school has been here for over 30 year,” said Lee.