PORT MARIA, St. Mary:
COUNCILLORS OF the St. Mary Parish Council have expressed concern about the tardiness of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo) in dealing with malfunctioning street lights in their division.
They voiced their concerns at the monthly meeting of the Council on Thursday. The councillors said some reports have been submitted to the JPSCo for more than a year now but they have not received a response from the company.
Councillors suggested that payments be suspended in areas without streetlights and that another meeting with representatives of the JPSCo be arranged as they had not kept their promise to do repairs and replace bulbs.
A letter from the JPSCo, read by secretary/manager Sheldon Peart, requested councillors to submit a list of the locations of the lights in need of repairs. However, the councillors said they had already submitted a list of the areas with malfunctioning lights. They believe it was the duty of the JPSCo workmen to go into the areas and check on lights that need repairs.
Another matter brought out during the Council meeting was the bad odour that emanate from stagnant water that settles on the sidewalk in Port Maria and in the Frontier Housing Scheme.
Chief Public Health Inspector, Anthony Robins, told the Councillors that the water level was very high and the problem was made worse whenever it rained. He said that the only solution was to install a central sewage system to lead the water from the streets of the town.
"The problem has existed for years," he said, "but the health department was unable to remedy the situation at the moment.
"Oiling of the water and cleaning of drains was being done periodically to alleviate the problem," Mr. Robins said.
