St. George's is pleading with Government for emergency cash to upgrade its clapped-out pumping system after King's Square was flooded with sewage overnight on Friday.

St. George's town manager Lance Furbert said the Old Town faces serious sewage flooding this cruise ship season unless it gets money to improve the system.

Overnight on Friday, all three of the pumps broke down, resulting in stinking sewage seeping through manholes into the Square and running into the harbour.

Thanks to help from Corporation staff and the fire brigade, the mess was cleared up minutes before the traditional ducking ceremony began at noon on Saturday.

The Corporation has ordered new pumps which are due to arrive in the next few weeks, but it does not have the $150,000 needed to install the temporary system, said Mr. Furbert.

"The sewage spill was pretty horrendous, but fortunately we had a lot of hard rain that washed it all away, but a couple of people in the Square were upset about it," Mr. Furbert told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"The pumps shut down because they are old beyond their life on Friday and we've been patching and trying to keep going for the longest while and they were just overwhelmed.

"Sometimes it has overflowed into the harbour, but in this case a lot of grease was coming out of the manholes into the Square. The smell was horrendous.

"We were expecting tourists in the Square for the ducking ceremony at noon and there was a heck of a time getting it cleared up. The Mayor was in the Town Hall ready to begin as we were finishing and it was a very close thing and incredibly frustrating.

"We've ordered the new pumps, but it is a question of money because quite frankly we have no money in the budget for sewage.

"We've applied to Government and talks are going on, but we don't have anything concrete.

"It is getting to the point that it is critical because the cruise season is coming and we will have major problems. It's extremely frustrating. It doesn't of us any good as a World Heritage Site to invite people to the town for the ducking ceremony and having them walk on streets with sewage.

"There will be some meetings this week, and hopefully that will start the balling rolling. They (Government) have sounded a little positive, but there is a little impatience on our side because we've got sewage in the streets."

Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott confirmed yesterday that discussions had taken place, but he was not sure what stage they had reached.

When a developer is found for the empty Club Med site, they will be asked to take care of the sewage system, and that would be a long-term solution, he said.

"The Corporation has been hav"The Corporation has been having discussions seeking assistance from Government and there are different ways Government may be able to assist in addition to either providing cash or maybe technical services or rehabilitation," he said.

"It is an old, old plant and what has been discussed for some time is that the developer of the Club Med site will be asked to contribute largely towards the St. George's facility and that is probably going to be the long-term solution."