A view of the swimming pool and a section of the rooms at the Baha Prncipe Hotel in Pear Tree Bottom, St. Ann. The Water Resources Authority and the National Environmental and Planning Agency have accused the hotel's management of environmental breaches. - File

Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

The Water Resources Authority (WRA) is proposing that enforcement action be taken against the Baha Prncipe Hotel yet again.

This time around, the hotel is coming under fire for breaches of sewage permits it was granted by the water authority and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).

This is the second time the hotel has been found to breach guidelines governing the establishment of its waste water treatment system. In December of last year, the WRA issued a stop order on work on the system after the property managers, Hoteles Jamaica de Piero (HOJAPI) Limited started construction of the system without a permit. They were subsequently granted a permit after a design of the treatment system was submitted and developers agreed to abide by the terms of the permit.

But according to the WRA in a report dated March 28 this year, a visit to the hotel site in Pear Tree Bottom, St. Ann, by a team from the Ministry of Health, the parish council, the WRA and NEPA, uncovered evidence that the hotel had in fact contravened the terms of its permits for the sewage treatment facility.

The investigation, which was prompted by complaints from residents that a foul odour was coming from the property and that sewage was contaminating water sources, unearthed that design changes had been made to the treatment plant without the knowledge or approval of any of the regulatory agencies, resulting in effluent not meeting the required standard set out by its NEPA licence.

"The poor effluent quality was not being used to irrigate green areas, but was constantly being disposed of into the deep-injection well in breach of both NEPA's and the WRA's licences. The WRA proposes to issue an enforcement notice against Baha Prncipe," said the water agency in a letter to NEPA on April 3.

Not enough green space

The deep-injection well, the agency says, was to be used to catch waste water during periods of excessive rainfall. During dry periods and periods of moderate weather, however, the permit indicates that the effluent should be used for irrigation of green areas on the property. But the visit to the site showed there was not enough green space on the property for complete use of the effluent by way of irrigation, hence, excess waste water was run off into the wells.

Furthermore, the investigative team also found that the effluent contained grease due to a discharge from the hotel's kitchen. The grease killed bacteria that were vital to the functioning of the treatment plant, forcing the property mangers to bring in bacteria from the RIU hotel to restart the treatment process. Chlorination of the system was also poor, the WRA pointed out in the report.

The investigative team raised questions about the general effectiveness of the entire treatment system due to what seemed to be problems with the plant to handle incoming volumes of waste water because of the changes made to the original design. "It was noted that no flow- measuring device installed along the inlet works. This is a critical piece of equipment allowing for better monitoring of the facility," the report says.

The permit for the injection well asked for a measuring device along the pipeline leading to the injection well. In the absence of this device, the regulatory agencies would have no control on the volume discharged into the injection well."

No new design report was submitted to any of the regulatory agencies, the report states.

Report

Mr. Toms, a waste water engineer from Mexico, representing the hotel management, and who toured the site with the investigating team, said a report would be submitted to he regulatory agencies. But according to the WRA report, Mr. Toms seemed unable or unwilling to communicate in English. The WRA asked that a report be submitted by April 16. To date, a report has not been submitted, The Sunday Gleaner understands.

"There seems to be an unwillingness on the part of the hotel to provide information in a timely fashion and adhere to the permits, licences and regulations as required under the laws of Jamaica," the agency said in its letter to NEPA.

In a stern letter to the hotel's controlling company, Hoteles Jamaica de Piero (HOJAPI) Limited, the WRA warned the hotel that its failure to abide by the terms of its permit would result in closure of its current waste-treatment system. It also called on NEPA and the Ministry of Health to step up monitoring of the hotel and to take enforcement action against it for breaching its permit in order to avoid contamination of the environment.

No action has been taken yet by the regulatory agencies.