GSD puts spotlight on sewage problems

The GSD put a spotlight yesterday on “inadequate” drainage systems that continue to cause concern for locals and visitors alike.

The party said it was receiving complaints related to ongoing maintenance work on Gibraltar’s main storm drainage systems, especially after the impact of recent heavy rainfalls and subsequent widespread flooding “which seem to plague Gibraltar year on year”.

The GSD said it was “evidently clear that the current drainage systems in place are inadequate, showing an obvious inability to cope with heavy rainfalls and water ingress, yet the Government fails to address these issues effectively.”

It pointed to Wellington Front as an example, where sewage is seeping through historic walls during ongoing maintenance work.

The Opposition said political responsibility for this lay with the Gibraltar Government, with civil servants left “fire-fighting because of an absence of a proper plan to deal effectively with the issue 14 years after the GSLP/Libs were first elected”.

“With increases in our population growth, coupled with their failure to plan and adequately address our infrastructural needs, the problems have been exacerbated,” the party said in a statement.

It said it was “unacceptable” that popular tourist hotspot areas such as Ocean Village and Queensway Quay Marina were being “embarrassingly subjected to the stench of raw sewage”.

“With respect to Ocean Village Marina, this is an area which the Government have asserted that it has no responsibility for – so it appears, it will not be doing anything about it,” the GSD said.

“Sewage is also directly seeping through the city walls at the Wellington Front – a problem which, as reported, appears to be worsening.”

The GSD said the sewage seeping out of the wall at Wellington Front had now made its way into the sea around the Queensway Quay Marina, causing damage to the marine ecosystem in that area.

It added that the waste treatment plant project “is severely delayed” and raw sewage continued to be pumped directly into the sea by the lighthouse area on a daily basis.

It said these were environmental and public health priorities that the Government should have adequately dealt with after 14 years in office.

“This is not only a hazard, but an unpleasant sight for both locals and tourist visitors alike,” said Giovanni Origo, the Shadow Minister for the Environment.

“Do we not care about the impressions we give our visitors but more importantly about the health of our citizens?”

“How can we get to a point where maintenance is neglected to such an extent, that we can visibly see the raw and untreated sewage pour out of our city walls, as if it were a water stream forming part of some tourist attraction?”

“It is nevertheless hoped, that in raising these serious public health concerns, the Government will at long last deliver a greener and cleaner Gibraltar.”

“After 14 years in office what they cannot do is continue to blame the past.”

“They have been in power long enough to address all these issues.”