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No water for Bolt
Olympic champion beats hasty retreat from dry hometown
HORACE HINES, Observer West reporter
Thursday, January 08, 2009
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| Principal of the Sherwood Content Early Childhood Institution points to the catchment system on which her the facility relies to catch water. (Photo: Horace Hines) |
SHERWOOD CONTENT, St James - Olympic King Usain Bolt the world's fastest man, was forced to cut short a Christmas visit to his family after the absence of piped water in the community forced him to make a four-mile trek to the Windsor River for a bath.
"It is a shame that the world's fastest man does not have any water to bathe. He had to cut his visit by a day and a half because there was no water for him to use," rued Bolt's father, Wellesley.
The triple Olympic gold medallist, who arrived in his Sherwood Content hometown on Christmas Eve with the intent to stay until the following Sunday, had to take off early on Saturday when the chronic water shortage which traumatises the daily lives of the residents got to him.
Some residents now rely heavily on rainfall as their main source of water supply.
For others, it has become a ritual for them to journey to the Windsor River to collect water for domestic purposes. Others rely on members of the community who operate pick-up trucks to transport water from standpipes in the neighbouring Duanvale community. These are sold for up to $400 per 45-gallon drum.
Some irate community members told the Observer West that they have been plagued with severe water woes for over 20 years.
"This is foolishness. We have fe get water from standpipe in Duanvale. It can't rougher. A new year now, we want some solution," said a livid resident, Ivy Vernon. "When we wash (clothes), we have to make them dry properly because we don't have enough water to wash them so we have to make sun dry them out properly".
The three schools in the community are also suffering as a result of the drought.
"We are only getting just a little dripping from the tank now. Rainfall is our only source of water," principal of the Sherwood Early Childhood Institution, Vinnette Brown told the Observer West.
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