Water companies bathe in sales amid strike
MONTEGO BAY, St James – The strike by National Water Commission (NWC) has seen an influx of residents in western Jamaica purchasing potable water from their trusted sources to cushion the blow caused by the disruption of the country’s primary water source.
But while this temporary fix may ease their minds, these secondary sources may soon face a shortage as they also depend on the NWC to provide them with the water which they distribute.
On Tuesday, more than 2,000 disgruntled NWC workers who were angered by the Government’s handling of a compensation review, cut the island’s water supplies leaving tens of thousands of customers to fend for themselves.
Owner of the Aqua Palace in Savanna-la-Mar, Ryan Young, told the Jamaica Observer that, while he and his employees of the water distribution store “do not have hands to sell water”, their supply was running low as eager customers have been flooding the business place in search of the basic commodity.
“This morning we were basically out of stock because just yesterday we sold over 500 bottles of the five-gallon water and today, basically whatever water bottles we had left in stock have been depleted. It is now in the afternoon and by the time the next set of customers rush in whatever we have left will be gone. They may just last for the next hour,” Young told the Observer on Wednesday afternoon.
“Customers were lined up outside waiting to be served this morning before the store was even opened, and we expect a lot more [customers] later on in the day. We usually close at 7:00 pm each day, but yesterday we had to stay later than usual because at around 6:30 pm it was as if the shop had just opened based on the rush that came in,” Young said, adding that the water distribution store may not have enough water to provide customers with their preferred choice — the five-gallon bottles of water.
“The five-gallon water bottles have been sold out since this morning at 10,” he stated.
With no sign of the industrial strike ending soon, Young told the Observer that he is searching for another “reputable” water source to keep his business place open.
“We depend on NWC to produce our water just the same…so if we don’t get any supply from NWC we would have to find a reputable trucking company to supply us. We are currently looking into that…so that we can continue to assist the general public,” said Young.
Similarly in St James, water truck operator Menard Clarke Jr told the Observer he has received countless calls from business operators in desperate need of water.
“So far we see a lot of business places calling us for water. Our phones have been blowing up since early this morning. We are now at a call centre providing them with water and we will be heading to Rainforest Seafoods afterwards, then the hospital and Type-V Health Centre,” said Clarke.
Noting that he, too, depends on NWC to provide him with water, Clarke told the Observer that his business may be halted if the agency decides against sharing the commodity.
“As long as NWC turns on the pipe to fill the truck, we will have water, because this morning we had to wait for them to turn on the pipe to fill up the truck. There is a pipe at Reading that water trucks can go to full up, so we pay a fee at the water commission and go sell back the water,” Clarke explained.
He added, “If they turn it off then we won’t be able to get anything.”