NEW ROADS, Westmoreland – A life-line of hope has been extended to the more that 2,000 residents of the drought- stricken New Roads community in Westmoreland, who have been suffering from a lack of water in the area, due to a defective catchment tank.

The 41,000 gallon-capacity tank, located in the community which depends heavily on rain water, was recently rehabilitated at a cost of $1 million, through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“The residents are very happy now because there is little rainfall in the area which has resulted in a severe drought,” said councillor for the area Cebert Mc Farlane.

“Now that the tank is repaired the residents can now access water from that facility for their domestic use and so they are very grateful,” added Mc Farlane, noting that the tank has been in a state of disrepair for almost two years.

New Roads, which is located in the deep rural section of Westmoreland, is predominantly a farming community.

However, in recent years, efforts have been made to expand the production of craft items in the area.

Danny Samuels, a farmer in New Roads, told the Observer West earlier this week that the rehabilitation of the tank in the community is proving to be beneficial to residents.

“We are now getting water for our domestic use and to water our crops,” said Samuels, who grows a wide variety of cash crops.

Teacher at the New Roads All Age School, Sherine Richards-Griffiths, said area residents had to travel long distances to fetch the commodity, as well as to purchase it at a high cost for animals and other domestic use.

She also noted that students had to fetch water and this has resulted in some of them being late for school.

“It is a wonderful feeling. This is a big step for the community, and I applaud the Government. It will also be beneficial for the school as well,” the teacher stressed.

The initiative came about after the East Westmoreland Straw Craft Producers Co-operative submitted a small grant application to the Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystems Adapting to Climate Change (Ja REACH) programme, a USAID project, in 2012, requesting funding to rehabilitate the community tank.

And speaking at the recent handing over ceremony in New Roads, Member of Parliament for the area Luther Buchanan urged the residents to ensure that the facility is properly maintained.

He noted that the rehabilitated water catchment facility will provide relief to residents who have had to deal with months of drought.

And Karyll Aitcheson, a representative of the Ja REACH programme explained that “Ja REACH project is a two year -initiative funded by USAID to work with communities such as New Roads to undertake works like what we did with this facility.”

“The idea is to work with communities to address issues that are really affecting them that climate change has made worst,” she added.

He argued that New Roads and adjoining communities were affected by drought frequently and climate change had exacerbated the situation.

“The catchment facility supports over 2,000 residents within New Roads and adjoining communities and so we are really excited to have been a part of the process. This is not just about our project, this was a multi-agency approach to helping the community and it shows that we can get things done in a reasonable time, without a lot of resources just through partnerships,” Aitcheson emphasised.