Fixing downtown sewerage problem requires more than clearing blocked lines
It really shouldn’t have come to the prime minister ordering that immediate attention be given to resolving the sewerage problem in downtown Kingston. After all, this issue of raw sewage overflowing onto the streets, posing health risks, affecting businesses, and making life for people miserable has been with us for a very long time.
Successive governments have allowed it to fester, countering their proclamations, especially when they are on the hustings seeking votes, that they care for people and will make their lives better.
We recall that in July 2016 Dr Horace Chang, making his contribution to the 2016/17 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, addressed the importance of the sewage collection system in downtown Kingston.
According to Dr Chang, who at the time was minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, adequate sewage treatment is not only critical but essential if the Government is to achieve any major urban renewal.
“This Government, and my ministry in particular, will not tolerate a situation where there is a frequent overflow of sewage in our capital. We have to show greater respect for the dignity of our people,” Dr Chang said.
However, the Government, like all others before, has robbed the people who live and work in downtown Kingston of that dignity, because the problem has persisted despite being highlighted by this newspaper and other media over the years. And it has only grown worse with time and the inept management of the capital by the municipal corporation.
While we welcome the current attention to the problem, we don’t expect that the measures now being implemented will have long-term effects.
As Mr Matthew Samuda, the minister with responsibility for the environment, correctly pointed out, some of the sewer lines are more than 100 years old and have virtually collapsed. They are, therefore, in need of urgent replacement. That, though, is not a small undertaking.
In fact, this issue is much larger than clearing blocked lines and correcting the mechanical defects that Minister Samuda pointed to during a visit to the affected areas last Thursday.
We have seen, for instance, that the maintenance and operation of sewerage facilities have been inadequate, due mostly to lack of funding and long-term maintenance plans.
There is need, we believe, for a comprehensive and structured renewal of public infrastructure, not just in the capital but across the island. This will, of course, require heavy funding; however, it is an investment that is vital to the country’s continued development as businesses and people choose to exist in areas with adequate and properly functioning infrastructure and services.
Stopgap fixes to infrastructure defects only end up costing the country more in the long run. They also run counter to the State’s declared goals and outcomes outlined in the Vision 2030 Jamaica — National Development Plan to create “a vibrant and internationally competitive economy; a secure and cohesive society; a healthy natural environment; a high level of human capital development; and greater opportunities for social and economic mobility and prosperity”.