THE grounding of majority of the 100 trucks bought by the water ministry in 1999 for its Rapid Response Unit has become a major obstacle in assisting drought-afflicted communities in rural Jamaica.,/B>

In the meantime, the government has brought litigation against Daimler Chrysler/Mercedes Benz – manufacturer of the trucks – over transmission problems which have grounded the majority of the water trucks in the first couple of years of their operation.

The then Ministry of Water and Housing took a decision in January 2005 to take legal action against the German manufacturers after nearly half of the fleet were grounded because of various transmission problems.

The government accused the automaker of failing to repair or replace the trucks, which began developing mechanical problems less than eight months after they were bought.

Minister of state in the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, Dr Fenton Ferguson, under pressure recently from Opposition parliamentarians, admitted that the trucks were still grounded by the transmission problems. But he promised that the situation would be resolved before the end of the month.

“We are aware that there is a drought out there. We are aware of the status of our fleet right now and, it is against that background that, I am meeting with my people to discuss terms of availability, operational units. We expect to see a better quality service in the next couple of weeks,” Ferguson told Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee recently.

Dr Ferguson was responding to concerns expressed by parliamentarians about the drought currently affecting several parishes and the unavailability of Rapid Response unit trucks to provide water for the people.