‘Consider rain harvesting’ – Dr Horace Chang
Minister of Water and Housing, Dr Horace Chang says the answer to Sherwood Content’s water woes may lie in rain water harvesting.
“We have to see whether we can assist with any direct lines or not, but I am not ruling out rain water harvesting. Rain water harvesting is an accepted (method) which can be done with modern technique and is an accepted, very easy and effective way of providing potable water,” Chang explained.
“If that is the way, then we put a programme in there. It is better you give everybody money and they do their own thing, literally. It is something that people look down on but we are, as a policy looking to implement this programme in remote districts like that.”
Rain Water harvesting refers to the practice of capturing and storing rain water for later use. But the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Councillor for the Sherwood Division Smith shot down Chang’s idea.
“The community would have to be getting over 45 inches of rainfall per month for this method to be effective and they are only getting below the national average of 30 inches per month,” argued Smith, a qualified agriculturalist.
“Nearly 90 per cent of the householders in Sherwood [Content] practice rain water harvesting and they still run out of water within a week. That has not worked and will never work,” he said.
In the meantime, Chang – who underscored the need for a reliable water supply in every community – says he will request a report from the Rural Water Supply for the best alternative source for the community whose residents have become increasingly agitated since the completion six months ago of a $20-million project by the NWC and Red Stripe to address the problem.
The project, which started four years ago, allowed the residents to source piped water for a couple weeks, before failing.
Explaining that the Sherwood Water supply is overwhelmed by an extreme turbidity problem, the National Water Commission has promised to examine
other solutions.
But Chang, who expressed sympathy for the Sherwood Content residents, explained
that the cost required to get the system operational would
be colossal.
“The system there cannot work, unfortunately. You get water once every three months. To upgrade the system would cost too much,” he said.
Added Chang: “It is not the fault of the National Water Commission or anybody, it is just nature took part. I think the current turbidity level is 1000 turbidity units”.
