‘Sewage is running into the river’ - Estuary Meadows residents bemoan lingering wastewater crisis

WESTERN BUREAU:

Residents of the Estuary Meadows housing scheme in Irwin, St James, are up in arms over a sewage problem plaguing the community that has worsened since the passage of the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa seven months ago.

Estuary Meadows, also known as The Estuary (Phase 2), is a sister scheme to the Estuary Housing Development in Friendship, St James. It was built in 2021 by construction company West Indies Home Contractors (WIHCON) and the National Housing Trust (NHT).

According to the residents, a drainpipe in the area is releasing waste-ater into the nearby river, creating a potential health hazard for the community. They noted that the stench also worsens with hot weather conditions.

One resident, Lucy* said that wastewater has also been coming up directly into several of her neighbours’ homes.

“Sewage has been coming up in persons’ bathrooms, through the pits, and it has been affecting a number of houses around here, and the truck comes two or three times in the week to clear the drainage out. Recently, workmen were working on a section of the river where the tractor has to do a lot of digging to level off the surface where persons walk to go to the river, and I don’t know if a pipe burst down there, but sewage has been running into the river,” said Lucy.

“It is a concern because people go down to the river sometimes to bathe or do other things. I came here in September, and we could smell the sewage, but at that time we never saw it running,” Lucy added. “The problem started getting worse right after Hurricane Melissa, and even right now, I am standing at my back door and I am smelling the sewage.”

Nickeisha*, another resident, told The Gleaner that she has made multiple complaints about the situation, including to the St James Health Services, but she has not received any meaningful response.

“We always have to be opening the sewage port at the back of our house and putting bleach in it or washing it out with water. We do not have any constant running water, so we always have to be flushing extra times to get the smell out, or pour water into the manhole so it can flush itself. But the smell is still there no matter what happens, and this has been the situation since the hurricane, from about November through December,” said Nickeisha.

“The trucks used to come and pump it out once or twice a week, but I have not seen them in months. I tried to make a report up to about three weeks ago, and it did not come to anything. I called the Montego Bay Type V Clinic and I made more than one report, but I do not know what is happening with that,” Nickeisha added.

When contacted, St James’ acting chief public health inspector Sherika Lewis confirmed that a report was lodged about sewage entering the river near Estuary Meadows. She said that investigations are still ongoing to determine the exact location where the sewage is reportedly entering the waterway, as well as the possible health risks that could arise.

“My team said they got the complaint about two weeks ago, and the specialist called the complainant to get some more information, but that information was not forthcoming. We made contact with WIHCON, who is the developer, and the NHT and National Water Commission are doing some drawing of the sewage, because there were some pipes in the area that were damaged after the hurricane,” said Lewis.

“We are going to be doing some more investigation as to what is happening at that site and if the sewage is being drawn, the frequency of it, and the data available for when they were drawing, the company that is used, etc. but we do not know exactly where, because the complainant did not give the exact location of where the waste is going into the river,” Lewis continued.

In its November 6, 2025 publication, The Gleaner noted that a pond overflowed its banks and carried a mixture of sewage and stormwater into homes in Estuary Phase 2 during Hurricane Melissa’s catastrophic passage on October 28 last year.

Additionally, in January this year, residents expressed worry about slow rehabilitation work on a section of the community which had caved in during the passage of the hurricane. At that time, the residents were concerned that the work would not be finished in time for the start of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season on June 1.

In the meantime, WIHCON’s chief executive officer Marvin Campbell told The Gleaner that the NHT has been contacted about the flowing sewage issue, which is expected to be resolved shortly. He also noted that remedial works are ongoing to repair Estuary Meadows’ main sewer line which was damaged during Hurricane Melissa, with that work to be finished by November.

“The NHT indicated that they will be engaging the persons that they utilise to draw the sewage, to see what would be the reason for the delay, and to ensure that they get started by Friday evening. It seems to have been a breakdown in that communication that was the reason why they actually were not pulling the sewage,” said Campbell.

“During Melissa, the main sewer line got damaged, meaning the sewer line that would take the sewage from there to the treatment plant, so because those lines are damaged, you have to pull the sewage from the lift station. Those works are under way, and those should be completed in another five months, and once those works are completed, you would not need to have the trucks 

*Names changed to protect identities.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com