Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, has disclosed that the National Water Commission (NWC) will begin repair work next week on sections of the sewage infrastructure in Southeast St. Catherine.

He said this will alleviate the issues being experienced by the residents in affected areas. Yesterday (September 13, 2023) Minister Samuda and Member of Parliament for South-East St. Catherine, Robert Miller, toured the Armada Court, Myrtle Way, Passagefort, and Edgewater communities.

“We are touring sections of Portmore, and we are looking at a few issues. This constituency’s issue is not primarily potable water, what we have encountered are sewage issues. Armanda Court is one of the older residential schemes in the country and the infrastructure is aging…so we saw several lines that are due for replacement”, the Minister said.

Meanwhile, in Passagefort, Minister Samuda noted that a large break in the sewage main that connects the community to the sewage processing facility that eventually goes to Soapberry, had created an environmental risk as the leaks and overflow ended up in the canal. As such, he said, the NWC would be looking to move the project forward in the fastest possible time.

“We understand that every day with this problem just adds to the frustration, so, we will be working both with the private sector, those developers who are doing housing complexes within the area, as well as using our own resources from the NWC to get this project and this new line in place as fast as possible”, the Minister added.

For his part, Mr. Miller thanked the Government for answering the calls of the residents and placing the levels of investment into addressing the longstanding issue of sewage in his constituency.

–30–