LONGVILLE PARK, Clarendon — The National Water Commission (NWC) has moved to assure residents of this community that it has flushed and sterilised the lines after being forced to dump sewage into a drain in Phase 3 in mid-July. A 33-second video of the waste being dumped into the drain had sparked concern among many.

“We were forced to shut the plant down… as a result of the heavy rains [associated with Tropical Storm Elsa] to do an emergency evacuation of the line. This is not a practice we readily resort to, but… sewerage was backing up into persons’ residences and the time it was taking to mobilise other resources was going to prove hazardous for these residents,” explained Delano Williams, community relations manager for the NWC’s Eastern Division. “What we did following that evacuation of the line was to sterilise the drains and also flush it with water in order to neutralise any effects the sewage would have had.”

He said the activity was done within a 90-minute window.

Williams, who was part of a multi-agency walk-through of the Longville Park community last Thursday, sought to use the opportunity to engage and educate residents on the correct disposal of solids.

“We will be focusing extensively, in the coming months, on sewage disposal and best practices [in our discussions] with residents. We have a tendency to flush most solids like wipes, condoms, and tampons which ought not to be flushed. The wipes for instance form rags when they go into the sewers. They mesh together, sometimes clogging the manholes leading from the premises or the pumps themselves are at risk. [This] causes blockages which leads to shutdowns and disruptions which… are an inconvenience for residents who might have sewage backing up on them,” Williams said.

He also listed cooking oil as a major problem in creating blockages.

“We are not here to bash you but to look at the opportunities for partnership. We are partnering with the agencies to see how we can arrive at long-term solutions. In the meantime, we want to appeal to persons to educate themselves and pay attention to the NWC website and social media pages where we funnel a lot of information to help persons to know the best practices,” he urged residents.

Member of Parliament for Clarendon South East Pearnel Charles Jr led the tour of the Longville Park community to see first-hand the issues affecting the residents with a view of pulling all agencies together to adequately address their concerns. The National Works Agency, Clarendon Municipal Corporation, National Housing Trust, Mayor of May Pen Winston Maragh and community groups formed part of the touring party.