Repairs to Negril wastewater facility to begin January

Jamaica's water and housing ministry expects repairs to the Negril wastewater treatment facility in westernmost parish Westmoreland to begin in January, according to minister Horace Chang. Local firm M&M Jamaica will carry out work to repair technical defects that have appeared since the plant was built in 1999, government information service JIS reported. Work includes fixing the lining of the ponds, raising their embankments and installing measuring equipment. The treatment ponds, which can handle up to 4Mg/day (15.1Ml/d), are sinking, Chang said, adding that in the long term the ponds may have to be relocated. The project will take 18 months to complete and is budgeted at J$278mn (US$3.26mn). The EU is partially financing repairs with a J$243mn grant and the National Water Commission ( NWC) will provide J$35mn in counterpart funding.