A degree of normality is returning to the south coast, which has been beleaguered by a sewage problem for well over a year, according to Adrian Donovan, the spokesman for the residents.
Donovan, a strong critic of the then Freundel Stuart administration and the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) at the height of the crisis, told Barbados TODAY not a single drop of effluent has been evident on the streets of the tourism belt in recent weeks.
“I am talking from as far down as the Garrison to Lanterns Mall, right through Hastings, the bottom of Rendezvous Hill, Worthing, St Lawrence, St Lawrence School and as far as up in Dover,” he said.
The community activist said there were 22 areas which had been identified as having sewage seepage issues, “and right now all of those are sewage-free, although I must let you know that the sewage was now being pumped into the swamp, which is not an ideal situation, but is much better than seeing it on the streets every day, noon and night”.
He also reported that a number of businesses, including the popular Chicken Barn, had reopened, and the pungent odour which had been affecting the St Lawrence Primary School was virtually now gone.
“So far, there has been a great improvement, although we know the project has not been completed. Work is still being undertaken. Workmen can be seen working feverishly in the wee hours of the morning . . . and there is major work going on at the bottom of the Graeme Hall Sanctuary and the old Nova Scotia Bank [building]. There are two areas that received major work that is going on,” he said.
The Worthing Post Office, which had been closed for several months due to the sewage spill, has also reopened, according to the Barbados Government Information Service in a release issued yesterday.
BWA General Manager Keithroy Halliday revealed late last month that since the six 300-foot injection wells became operational on June 14, all of the overflows that had plagued the south coast had ceased, paving the way for a permanent fix.
The water company executive, who was present at the excavation site at the time, explained that while all efforts were being made to expedite the process, the complexity of the work ahead, as well as the safety of workers, meant the BWA had to proceed carefully.
Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abraham said on June 20 that excavation, which began on that day on sewer lines in the vicinity of the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, as well as at the old Scotia Bank in Worthing, Christ Church, was expected to impact traffic and businesses on Highway 7.
However, in his update on efforts to address the long-running sewage crisis, the minister had said a few more weeks of inconvenience was a small price to pay for permanent relief. emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
Adrian boy the big jobs are being shared out to friends supporters and relatives, make sure you get your pic Occie.
I am a tourist from Canada that comes down to Barbados, Worthing Beach area for 2 months of winter. Last year the beautiful Worthing Beach was closed several times due to the release of swamp water from Graeme Swamp. I am very concerned about that beach as the turtles frequent the waters there and we love to swim it. Now that more effluent is being poured into the swamp will the beach be contaminated again next winter with the run off from the swamp? Where will that water be pumped, there is no where in the article that explains that?
So happy that something is being done it was a sad year last year for our beloved Island. Look forward to a detailed response.
Adrian: Nothing new is happening on the South Coast. It is just the continuation of a very sound technical project in process. The injection wells, the drainage of the defected pipes, the treated water being pumped into the swamp, the replacement of the defected pipes and then the complete rebuilding of a new “secondary” sewage plant. It took time.
The injection wells are working then, thats all. So now, the pipes have been drained the BWA or whosoever they hire can go into the sewerage lines and fix the breech, as was the plan from months ago. No magic wand here.
Well congratulations must go out to the Barbados Water Authority workers for their unending displays of tenacity and resilience of efforts in the face of the health and other challenges posed to themselves and to the country,
as they have been continuing to stave off the worst possible problems
that could have been
brought about with
increasing
malfunctioning
South Coast
Sewerage Treatment
Plant.
I tip my hat to the
management and
general workers of
the BWA.
Now, seeing that Adrian Donovan has
long known so much
about the various
maleffects of the
malfunctioning of
the Plant, and has
recently known
that there has been
a marked
decline in spillage
of sewerage on the
streets in Worthing,
Hastings, etc, he
must tell the whole
of Barbados if there
has been a solution
brought about to the
spillage of sewerage
on the streets, and,
therefore, if there
has been one, what
has been the solution.
I am sure the people of Barbados would like to know about
these things from
him.
It just goes to show that all it took to start the fixing of of the sewerage mess & the other problems was people who know what they are doing..!!
Prime Minister Mia Mottley & her team are leading the way to a better Barbados..
Jobs are being well done & the signs of relief are showing.
Great job to Mia & her her team BLP…
KEEP THE GOOD WORK UP….
he was the cause of the malfuctioning with the sewage especially up near where he comes from and all the other one from st phillip would do was ask when he was on the political flat form at nights any body knows donavan and every body that knows him will say yes the ones from st phillips i don’t know who tell him that it was the one from DOVER but i know that he should have been charge it was him who put those workmen through hell when the men make progress the next day they turn up for work the have to start fresh i was made to understand that those men had to get help a postman from up in there tell me.every night the one from DOVER late at night it was alledged that he was like he was the watchman on the south coast project. he put those men through hell so the one from st phillip couldn’t finished it on time. but good thing he used to come on T V and say some wells has to be dug. AAAAA DRE UUUUN was doing a lot of underhand things around those joints for years. he thinks that he owns bout there and if any body gine live bout in da region they have ta report ta he. get a big pick too, he probably done get paid up front from abebraham and i care.