Tuesday's story in The Royal Gazette on the crisis facing the St. George's sewage system raises two major issues for the East End town.

One is the health and environmental risks facing the town and its harbour in the event that the sewage system collapses - and it seems likely that that will occur sooner rather than later.

The second is the monumental task that the Corporation faces in maintaining the town's infrastructure on a small budget.

The town's economic base is neither big enough nor strong enough to hike taxes to cover the expenses it faces.

Now the town needs $800,000 to pay for new sewage pumps and does not have the money to pay for them. Thus it is now in talks with Government about funding for the plant.

It would be reasonable for Government to provide some of the funding for the plant, especially given that Government provided $1.6 million towards the Corporation of Hamilton's sewage plant.

Another compelling reason is that St. George's brings much to Bermuda as a World Heritage site and tourist attraction and as the greatest symbol of the Island's heritage. It is worth noting that six of the 13 sites on the Bermuda Diaspora Trail are in the town.

That does not mean that St. George's should not stand on its own financially. That must be the town's long term goal. But without the proper infrastructure, it will never have a chance to do so.

There should also be some quid pro quo as well. If the public is to provide funding to either Corporation, they should at the very least provide some transparency in their own dealings and should open their meetings to the public.

While there will, no doubt, be fears that members will take the chance to grandstand if they do so, the greater understanding that the public will gain of the challenges the Corporations face would be worth it.