Sewage Disrupting Business Downtown

The business district in Downtown Kingston is battling a sewage leak that is settling on the sidewalk of Orange Street. A glaring health risk, the cesspool is a nuisance to customers and business owners who are desperate for a resolution. Variety Pharmacy has been in business for about 20 years. Manager of the Variety Pharmacy, Karl Francis says for half that time he’s been battling the occasional rise of sewage.  However, since the expansion of the sidewalk around three years ago, the huge pond of waste water has settled at the entrance of his business.

Security Guard, Dwight Robinson has been stationed in front of the sewage for those three years. When the sky sets for rain, his job is to put up a barrier to prevent the rising sewage from seeping into the store. Francis says he’s called the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, KSAMC and the National Water Commission, NWC on multiple occasions to address the issue. To their credit the KSAMC visited once. When no resolution could be reached, he tried to solve the problem himself.

When our news team reached out to the KSAMC and, NWC neither were able to confirm which entity was responsible for fixing the problem. This begs the question, how much longer should Karl Francis and his employees suffer before the proper authority intervenes?

Reporter: Jhanielle Powell