Mobay sewage pipe repairs to finish by Sunday, says NWC

THE NATIONAL Water Commission (NWC) says the emergency repair work to rectify the recent overflow of raw sewage in a section of downtown Montego Bay, St James, should be completed by Sunday.

"We are progressing fairly well, and we expect that by Sunday, the work should be completed," Julia Gordon, the public relations officer for the NWC's western region, told The Gleaner yesterday. "We have laid 100 metres of pipes so far and have completed 80 per cent of the work."

"The pipeline (the leaking one) is very old, so we are replacing that and placing it in a different area ... . We are digging between 18 and 20 feet, and there are some transition lines in that area, so we have to be very careful," continued Gordon. "We have contained the biggest nuisance, which was the odour and the overflow, which was coming over on to the road."

Court, Library reopen Monday

Gordon also noted that operations at the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court and the St James Parish Library, which were adversely affected by the sewage overflow, should restart on Monday.

"The courthouse and the library were closed and they should be able to reopen on Monday," said Gordon. "We would normally have had to plan this project, but it is being done as an emergency project."

On Tuesday, the St James Parish Library was closed to facilitate repairs to the sewage mains. The Montego Bay Number One post office, which adjoins the Montego Bay RM Court, and the KFC and Pizza Hut fast-food outlets on neighbouring Howard Cooke Boulevard were also ordered closed.

Operations at the Montego Bay RM Court continued throughout the week but were significantly affected by the sewage overflow, with courthouse sources indicating that cases set for mention on Wednesday and Friday had to be rescheduled for other dates.