Residents in Cornwall Courts took to the streets on Wednesday in protest of a mal-functioning National Water Commission (NWC) sewage plant in the community that has been giving off an unbearable, foul odour in the neighbourhood.

On Wednesday, community members took to the streets from as early as 6:00 a.m., blocking the entrance and exits to the scheme. The residents said they have been grappling with the nuisance for years and believes the relevant authority has not been doing enough to solve the problem.

Steve, who has been living in Cornwall Courts since 2000 said the plant has always been 'acting up' but things have become unbearable in recent months.

'De whole place stink'

"De whole place stink," he said. "Yuh cant sleep, yuh get inna de middle a de night coughing because of the scent, dat cant be right." He also noted that a neighbour even had to take his child to the doctor recently because the fumes from the waste was adversely affecting the lad.

David Morgan, another resident and businessman in the community said the stench from the plant is so bad that he could hardly enjoy a meal in the community.

He also told The Star that the situation is worse whenever it rains as the showers cause raw sewage from the plant to run into a nearby gully, an occurrence he sites as a possibly health risk.

Sewage plant problem

When contacted yesterday, NWC's communication manager, Charles Buchanan, said that while he was unaware of the particulars resulting in yesterday's protest by the residents, plans are afoot to address the general sewage plant problem in Cornwall Courts.

Buchanan said that at the time when the sewage plant in question was built by the National Housing Trust (NHT), it was designed to accommodate a set number of houses. Since then, however, the community has grown rapidly and now requires a bigger plant.

He reassured residents however the agency has already submitted plans for a major project which will see the waste from Cornwall Courts being directed to the much larger waste plant located in Bogue, St James. This he says will be the ultimate solution to the problem but the project would take some months, after approval, to be fully complete. Buchanan noted that short-term solutions would be sought and implemented in the interim nonetheless.

Name changed upon request