Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, says the National Water Commission (NWC) will be relaxing water restrictions, following the increase in capacity at the Mona Reservoir and Hermitage Dam in St Andrew.

The recent

period of heavy rainfall has raised water levels at Mona and Hermitage to 54

per cent and 72 per cent, respectively.

Holness said that the easing of restrictions will be good news to Jamaicans, but urged members of the public to continue to practise conservation methods.

“We are

still very cautious. So, we are not going to totally abandon all our

conservation methods, but we will relax so that people can get water now,” he

said.

“Of course, there is the issue of turbidity, but the NWC will be able to address those through their treatment processes to ensure that customers can get water up to potable standards.”

Holness also

noted that since the beginning of 2019, sections of Jamaica have had varying

levels of dryness, with St Ann, St Mary, Portland, St Elizabeth, St Thomas and

St Catherine experiencing drought conditions.

He pointed

out that most of the rainfall has occurred in the western parishes,

particularly Hanover, Westmoreland and Trelawny, representing a shift from the

traditional high rainfall parishes of Portland and St Mary.