Eleventh hour emergency sewage repairs are being carried out in St. George's after the Old Town was told that continuing problems would prevent cruise ships from arriving this summer.

St. George's Mayor Henry Hayward said last night that town officials were only too aware of the dire consequences to the tourist destination if major repairs were not carried out to the sewage system immediately.

He said the Corporation of St. George's had been in constant touch with environmental health officers during recent months in a bid to straighten out the ongoing issues with the system - but he said finances had been the recurring problem.

However, he said cash, to the tune of about $150,000, had been put up to get the job completed in time for the arrival of the first cruise ship at the end of April.

But he refused to say where the money had come from, and whether it was from the private sector.

"The work is progressing now", said Mr. Hayward.

"We are putting in new pumps and building a support tank system, and so forth. All of the renovations are being done.

"It's not only them (environmental health officers) who said the cruise ships could not come - but that's a fact. We have known that.

"Part of the problem was the finances of the Corporation, but the finances have now been put in place and there will be some sort of statement coming out at a later date."

Mr. Hayward said the Corporation had been meeting with the officers because the problems had been concerning the people of St. George's, as well as Government.

But he said he was very confident the new system would be up and running in time for the first cruise liner.

The Mayor said the system was being installed by about eight Corporation staff, and he reassured the public that it would not cause any disruption to roads or walkways.

He said the Old Town was practically getting a whole new system to replace the current one, however, he said it was hoped that once a new owner was found for the Club Med Hotel, it would have a new, bigger sewage system put in place that would take care of not only the hotel, but the town and cruise ships, as well.

"The work should be completed in about three weeks," added Mr. Hayward.

"The new system is adjacent to what the present system is operating on, so there is no disruption. There will be a point where we have to shut down for a day to get the new system kicked in, but that will be it. There are no problems for residents - the system is working for them."