Raw sewage worsens on KPH grounds

Raw sewage is again spewing from a manhole on the premises of the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), posing serious concerns for patients and schoolchildren who access the area.

Theresa Wedderburn, who previously reported the issue, said she had to lock up her small shop on Upper Rose Lane for days because she is afraid that she or her granddaughter, who has sickle cell disease, may get sick. The child often accompanies her to work.

"The NWC (National Water Commission) and the hospital need to fix this, and the Government needs to play their part in getting this rectified. This is the hospital, somewhere you go when you are sick, not to get sick. It is raw sewage!"

The manhole is located in front of the Antenatal Clinic and next to the KPH pharmacy.

"The truck came the other day, but they just draw out some water and sand, and by the next day it start again. They need to check deeper of what is causing it, because the rain fall and the raw sewage come out," she said.

Joseph Isaacs is also urging the authorities to get it fixed because he, like many others, has a challenge in taking his elderly mother to and from the hospital.

"You should've seen it earlier this morning. It run off in a way that it is getting clear, but this morning it was really bad. You could see what looks like faeces running in the water," Isaacs said.

Efforts to obtain a comment from Errol Greene, the regional director for the South East Regional Health Authority, were unsuccessful. However, NWC's acting corporate public relations manager Delano Williams stated, "The NWC team has been responding to issues along the trunk main which runs along North Street. By the layout on the infrastructural set-up, the line runs through a section of the KPH compound. What we find is that over time, with the intrusion of garbage and a significant level of silt, there are times when overflows do occur." Williams said that workers were there as recently as last week.

"Again, we are recognising that there is still a significant amount there which could cause some amount of overflow if not followed up on, so our teams are mobilising our Montego Bay departments to carry out further work. It is an ongoing process which requires this kind of short-term, remedial action. But overall, it forms part of the need for significant capital outlay .. which will allow us to replace trunk mains like this one, which is about 42 inches in diameter," Williams explained.