NEGRIL, Westmoreland — Concerned that Negril’s sewerage infrastructure may be reaching the end of its functional lifespan, the town’s Destination Assurance Council (DAC) has taken on the challenging task of evaluating and potentially overhauling the plant.

“The DAC is taking on a massive endeavour, which is looking into the sewage treatment plant. We are trying to ascertain the current status of it — if it’s effective, [or] if we’ve outgrown it,” said DAC Chairman Richard Wallace.

He was speaking with the Jamaica Observer following a recent bi-monthly meeting of the DAC in Negril. The meeting was held at the James Hunter Event Centre located on the Boardwalk Shopping Village.

Wallace noted that, based on a decision taken during the meeting, the council will be formally asking the National Water Commission (NWC) and the National Environmental Planning Agency (NEPA) to verify the system’s integrity.

“We suspect that it’s past its useful life, and it is something that we need to address urgently because, as you know, sewage treatment is very critical,” he reasoned.

Wallace said they anticipate a response from NWC and NEPA before the DAC’s next meeting, and that feedback will determine the council’s next move.

“That is something that we are focusing on big time now — to seek funding, if necessary, and to make a plan to upgrade or replace the current system, based on the recommendations of the experts. That would include the infrastructure, the lift stations, and everything — not just the plant itself, but the entire infrastructure for the sewerage, which would bring the sewage to the location of the new plant,” argued Wallace.

The sewage plant was reportedly built in the mid 1990s. However, following functional failures caused by sinking ponds, a $278-million upgrade and expansion project funded by the European Union and the NWC began in 2011. The work done under that project was commissioned into operation in 2012. Further improvements to the facility and its conveyance system were carried out and completed in 2022 at a cost of $47 million.

“That was a long time [1990s], and that lobby was started by the Negril Chamber [of Commerce], I believe, back in the day. We realised that we needed a sewage treatment plant but, as you know, there have been tremendous, massive developments in the area since then, and we hear of issues with sewage now and then. It’s something that we need to address urgently before it gets to a [bad] situation,” argued the DAC chairman.

“We don’t want to wait until it’s a crisis and then we start running up and down. We need to start looking at it from now, and that is what we’re doing,” added Wallace.