MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Residents and stakeholders of this south-central town are fearful that the long-standing problem of inconsistent water supply could affect proper hygiene and sanitisation efforts, if not addressed swiftly, amid the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Pepper well field, down slope at low altitude in St Elizabeth several miles away, is the main source of water for Mandeville, which is more than 2,000 feet above sea level, atop the Manchester Plateau.

 As has often happened down the years, a pump at the Pepper water station recently broke down, worsening Mandeville’s chronic water problems. A National Water Commission (NWC) representative told the Jamaica Observer this week that the pump was repaired and returned to service on March 19.

Experts say pumping water from Pepper up to Mandeville is difficult and expensive, largely because of the steep slope and distance.

Many Mandeville residents say they are now getting NWC water for less than eight hours on weekdays and sometimes none at all on Saturdays and Sundays.

Mayor of Mandeville and chairman of the Manchester Municipal Corporation Donovan Mitchell has suggested that central Government tap into a well that had once served the now mothballed Windalco/Kirkvine bauxite/alumina plant.

“The Pepper well has been giving some challenges for a number of years. There is another well that should have been put in… the council has been saying that Windalco has a number of pumps in the Porus area, and a source of water there that the Government should have really tapped into, and use that as an additional source to come into the town,” said Mitchell.

He told the Observer that the trucking of water to communities across Manchester has been hampered due to a shortage of sanitised trucks.

“Each Member of Parliament and all 15 councillors have been given an allocation, nothing very great, to transport water to their respective divisions… The problem that we are having is a shortage of sanitised trucks… We are working with the National Water Commission to try and get some more trucks sanitised, so that we can use them.”

Last April, then minister with responsibility for water Pearnel Charles Jr had announced that the National Housing Trust (NHT) would undertake works estimated at $1 billion to improve the Greater Mandeville Water Supply System.

Mayor Mitchell said the system needs to come on stream.

“It needs to come faster, because the problem you face now is there are some housing schemes, like Perth, for example, which was recently built and developed by the NHT, that still don’t have piped water…. Persons have to be relying on tanks,” Mitchell disclosed.

“We need to do a little bit better than what we are doing in terms of water for Mandeville. It is full time we try and get that problem out of the way,” he added.

Councillor for the Mandeville division Jones Oliphant told the Observer that households should make the effort to have adequate rainwater catchment and storage to supplement NWC supplies.

“Water supply in Mandeville has always been a problem… Nobody in Manchester should have this level of frustration at this time based on our historical settings. The history of Manchester is that you build a [rainwater catchment] tank, so when we have public water supply that is just complementary.

“We are not passing any plans at the municipal corporation without the building of a tank, that is a stipulation that has been in for the last five years, where they (applicant) must build a tank,” Oliphant said.

Checks made by the Observer with the municipal corporation’s Local Planning Authority revealed that one of the requirements for the approval of a building application stipulates that the applicant must submit structural details for a concrete water tank with a minimum capacity of 28,500 litres.  

President of the Ingleside Citizens’ Association Debra Aswan told the Observer that residents are not only frustrated with inadequate water supply, but are also fearful due to the spread of the coronavirus.

“Just recently I was speaking with someone from the NWC and begging them just to turn on the water in Ingleside for more than the hour, three days a week. I have been having this conversation almost every week since January, because in here, for many years, we have been suffering. Since the start of this year it has been even worse, because we have been getting lower pressure than normal.

“All of us here have [storage] tanks, but the pressure that NWC is sending up three days a week is not enough to do anything to the tanks. How they must say hand-washing and we don’t have water?” she asked, in light of COVID-19.

“We are not pleased because this has been an uphill battle that we are fighting… Every time they (NWC) say there is enough water, so why is it that we are not getting it?” she asked.

A senior official at the NWC, who asked not to be named, disclosed that “repair work was done to the Pepper number three well and it has been in operation since March 19. The well serves Greater Mandeville along with two other Pepper wells …”

The official said a new pump, which should bring increased efficiency, has been ordered from overseas, but its instalment is dependent on shipping, which is currently being affected by the spread of COVID-19.