By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A CONTRACTOR for the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) has said he is not the one to blame for problems residents of Treasure Cay are experiencing with their sewerage system.

Gregory Miller, Sr, owner and operator of Apex Underground Utilities, said he is just one of the contractors on the Treasure Cay Sewerage System Rehabilitation Project, and it was not him who abandoned sewer works there over the holiday period.

Along with Apex, there is BRON Ltd and an additional sewerage pumping contractor.

Treasure Cay residents had to endure a Christmas holiday with their sewerage backing up into their homes, due to the damage still left over from Hurricane Dorian in 2019.

Residents have to pump their own sewerage and dispose of it themselves, which has not only become costly over time but cumbersome as they have to call a private contractor to pump sewerage waste from each individual home.

Mr Miller also said: “I want to clarify there is more than one contractor on this project. I am the WSC private contractor who has been contracted to install the new lift stations and the force mains.”

Apex has been off duty for one day only since being mobilised on the project and that is on Christmas Day when they were asked by the residents to take the day off so they can have a motorcade without all of the heavy equipment littering the roadways. “Boxing Day we were right back on the job site,” Mr Miller added.

Currently, the truck that pumps the sewerage is reportedly down and the contractor has not given any indication as to when it will be up and running again. Despite this, residents of Treasure Cay have already donated $350,000 to WSC to have this matter resolved, but delays in shipping of materials is posing a challenge to contractors doing the work.

He added: “Most of the hindrance has been the weather and material procurement because when we quoted the job we quoted it for all of the materials to come in at one time, but we still have to go and clear material now six months later.

“The completion date should be in February and the homeowners are aware of this. What they were more upset about is the communication breakdown [between] WSC and the homeowners association, but all of the homeowners association leadership has given us high marks and praise for our level of our work.”

On Friday, Treasure Cay homeowner representatives Bill McLean and Dan Proctor from the Sewer Task Force met WSC Board chairman Sylvanus Petty, North Abaco MP Kirk Cornish, Mr Miller and other representatives from WSC in an attempt to urgently resolve the recent sewage overflow issues.

The meeting was coordinated by developer Craig Roberts and held at The Bahama Beach Club.

Top executives from WSC Robert Deal, the general manager, deputy general manager Cyprian Gibson, and assistant general manager Gregory Stubbs communicated from Head Office through a WhatsApp conference call.

Discussions involved the septic trucking contractor problems over the past week, which created challenges to water and sewage usage to several hundred residents and tourists.

A series of corrective options were explored and firm plans were agreed upon to address the timely removal of lift station waste safely, in compliance with the rules and regulations governing such operations, and inspect and make repair recommendations based on technical findings to the community injection well.

The parties also agreed to establish an enhanced communication network to include all relevant stakeholders in an effort to expedite resolution should any future issues arise. Relief for residents was promised to start on a consistent basis within 24 hours.