Dear Editor,

The water to the entire communities of Salem and Runaway Bay was shut off. Residents had not one second of warning that this was about to occur. If this had happened because of an accident residents would not be so infuriated. But it was not an accident.

Reportedly, the developer of a site on the north side of the highway needed to bring water to his site from the water main on the south side. Without reasonable notice to the community, in order to facilitate this new connection, all of us were deprived of potable water, beginning mid-morning Saturday of the long weekend. This deprivation lasted a minimum of eight hours.

Many of us tried and failed to contact National Water Commission (NWC) to understand what was happening and what we could expect. If any of us did reach a customer care representative we got no sensible answers. We had to rely on rumours.

Some of the victims of this incident have been told that the main was cut accidentally. This is very hard to believe as a break in a high pressure line would have resulted in a geyser of water that could not have been hidden from road traffic, pedestrians, adjacent businesses, and residences on a busy Saturday morning. However, no one has reported any such thing.

Another caller, who finally got through about 2:00 pm, was told there was no report of a problem in this area. Clearly there was a widespread problem. No water from Runaway Bay all the way to Drax Hall.

Whether NWC’s position is that it was a “failure”, as one caller was told, or if it was a known new connection being installed doesn’t really matter. NWC or the developer ought to have hired one of the many town criers that ply our neighbourhoods regularly. We ought to have been given sufficient warning or an emergency announcement. That was completely within the power of both the NWC and the developer to facilitate. Failing that response, a message could have been placed on the website or on the customer care line. Most importantly, NWC should have an emergency number that is open 24/7 so that timely responses to an emergency can be implemented.

Finally, one caller was told that no work would be done Sunday or Monday. Does that imply that we were set to lose potable water again on Tuesday? Many of us were preparing for such an event.

Sheilah Forward

On behalf of residents of Salem and Runaway Bay

forward@cwjamaica.com