KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister with responsibility for Education, Youth and Information, Karl Samuda, says arrangements are in place to truck water to schools facing a shortage of supply.

Samuda said that tanks will be installed at institutions without such storage facility. “The delivery of tanks has already started, but we are ordering more as we go along,” he noted while at a press conference held at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, on Thursday (September 5) to announce Government support for additional Bachelor of Medicine students.

Meanwhile, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry, Dr Grace McLean, said that Region One, which covers Manchester and St Elizabeth, has requested 26 tanks.

She said that an order for the storage containers has been placed and they will be installed at the schools as soon as they are delivered.

“For the other regions, we have not gotten any major report in terms of providing tanks,” she noted.

 In the meantime, Dr McLean said water is being trucked on a daily basis or every two days to 22 schools in Kingston; 12 schools in Region Four (Portland, St Mary and St Thomas) and about 15 to 20 institutions in Region Four (Hanover, St James and Westmoreland).

She said that there is a monitoring process in place to ensure that the water is replenished regularly.

 “We have a protocol in place, so the principals know how to check the water level and know who the contact persons are, and we try and make sure that we replenish [regularly],” she said.