Workmen emptying the cesspool at the Old Harbour police station yesterday. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:
PERSONNEL AT the Old Harbour Police Station, in St. Catherine, were working overtime yesterday to allow the facility to remain open after it was ordered closed by the Southern Regional Health Authority.
When The Gleaner visited the station, three cesspool emptiers from St. Andrew Cesspool company were spotted removing effluent from the septic tank on the grounds of the station.
Karl Ferguson, the deputy superintendent in charge of the station, acknowledged that the repairs were necessary.
He said, however, that since he took charge at the station last November, no raw sewage had been seen running on to the grounds. He also said the pits were drawn on a weekly basis.
"While I cannot decide for myself what will happen as I do not supervise myself, I hope that things will work out well," he said. "In the meanwhile, however, I await further instruction."
Deputy Superintendent Ferguson said also that the letter received from the authorities was a general letter and did not speak specifically to the problems at hand. He said there was need for dialogue on the way forward.
ENVIRONMENTAL BREACHES
The station was ordered closed by the health authority which expressed dissatisfaction over several environmental breaches that existed. The health authority had also instructed the Police High Command to have the station closed yesterday if remedial work was not carried out to the expected standard of the Health Department.
Meanwhile, several persons who had been locked up at the institution told The Gleaner that the conditions of the cell area were of "sub-human standard."
- Rasbert Turner
