The Government is putting measures in place to ensure that citizens in western Jamaica have adequate access to water and that schools and businesses are not disrupted.
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator Matthew Samuda, said he has had discussions with Acting President of the National Water Commission (NWC), Kevin Kerr, to increase the monitoring and rate of trucking to educational institutions.
“We don’t intend to allow for any learning loss with any of our schools,” he said.
“Our regional manager (NWC) has done a good job in communicating with the regional directors of the Ministry of Education and, indeed, all of our schools. We will be moving to set up a troubleshooting network by way of a WhatsApp group and an e-mail line dedicated to schools to ensure that they are not disrupted. Schools are paramount and we do not intend to cause any learning loss,” he added.
The minister, who was addressing a press conference at his New Kingston offices on Monday (April 22), said interventions will be made to ensure that all schools have adequate storage.
He informed that Prime Minister Andrew Holness, has directed that an immediate assessment be undertaken of public schools in Hanover and Westmoreland to increase water storage over the next four to six weeks.
The assessment will be led by the Rural Water Supply Limited.
Senator Samuda said the NWC will also be putting a “safety net” in place to ensure that operations at hotels are uninterrupted, particularly with an expected increase in arrivals as Americans travel for the Memorial Day holiday weekend in May.
He noted that the safety net will “ensure that hotels from western St. James all the way into western Westmoreland at the tip of the West End will be protected and their business will not be disrupted”.
He said, further, that emergency trucking will continue in the affected areas through the NWC, Members of Parliament (MPs), and municipal corporations.
“Each Member of Parliament in… Hanover and Westmoreland, has $4 million at their disposal to direct trucking. We have also made available to the parish councils, $7.5 million for Hanover and $5 million for Westmoreland.
“We would have made some $30 million available at the end of February to facilitate trucking in western Jamaica and, of course, the Brown’s Town area, which was also going through some particular challenges,” he reminded.
Meanwhile, Samuda said the Government, through the Ministry of Health and Wellness, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and NWC will continue to monitor water quality standards to ensure that these emergency interventions do not compromise public health.
“We are also actively working to get off the ground our broader tank programme, which we expect to have a major impact in the household water resilience for citizens. That programme is in procurement, and we expect to make announcements soon,” he said.
The minister assured residents that the trucking of water is being closely monitored and urged persons to report any tampering with the Water Commission network.
He noted that continuous assessments will be undertaken, and additional allocations provided where necessary to respond to the needs to citizens.
“We’re clear that this is having a debilitating impact and we are also working around the clock to ensure that persons get the emergency response,” he added.
Senator Samuda said that the Ministry and the NWC will continue to communicate with various stakeholders and ensure collaboration between NWC and the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company to minimise disruptions due to maintenance works.
He informed, further, that critical pumping facilities in the western end are being assessed “to make sure they are taken care of with further budgetary allocations where needed for generators”.
In addition, there are significant investments in capital projects, including a US$209-million initiative to address water challenges over the short, medium and long-term, he noted.
Meanwhile, Director of the Meteorological Services Branch, Evan Thompson, said that while increased rainfall is projected in the months of May and June “the western end of the island is likely to remain brown for a little bit longer than the rest of the country”.
