WEST GATE HILLS, St James — Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda has indicated that the Government will have to provide policy changes that will force Jamaicans to play their part in the usage, treatment and storage of potable water.

“Water security cannot be seen as a Government issue. It is a long-standing matter that requires all Jamaicans to play their part in the usage, treatment and storage of this precious commodity. There will have to be policy changes coming from the Government to force those who don’t readily accept their role to play their part,” he said.

Samuda said this is a matter that he intends to take up with the Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte.

He was addressing the commissioning of a water storage tank in West Gate Hills in St James West Central on Thursday.

However, when quizzed by the Jamaica Observer, Malahoo Forte, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, assured that the Government will not be taking anybody by surprise, adding that further information will be provided.

“Even though there may be differences around the matter, ultimately it is that we are working to bring solutions and to improve the lives of people,” said the legal affairs minister.

Malahoo Forte also indicated that the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation is currently working on several policy areas that will result in better service to the people and not only rationalising across water, but environmental matters.

“As soon as those policies are settled and signed off by the Cabinet then some laws will have to be looked at to give effect to them. So, in short order, you will hear more from the minister, and then it will come over to my ministry when we are going to be dealing with the laws,” she explained.

Samuda, during his speech, pointed out that the National Water Commission (NWC) has been implementing several operating strategies which are expected to minimise the negative effects during periods of drought. The company, he added, has increased regulations and increased trucking of the domestic product to higher elevated areas and the most vulnerable.

He added that while the NWC is taking steps to work on storage, processing capacity and distribution, there is an “elephant in the room and it’s one that’s a close cousin, and sometimes I don’t know who gets cussed more, but the NWC is simply the greatest user of electricity in the country. So, the truth is your water supply is directly impacted by the cost, regulation and stability of the energy supply,” said the minister.

“We are taking a serious look at our energy usage or energy sourcing, and we will be doing what we need to do to regulate costs, to improve efficiency, and to ensure that we are able to pass on consistent increased supply and, indeed, avoid price increases,” said Samuda. His hope is that his work in this area will be a high point of his tenure.

He said the NWC’s monthly electricity bill is more than $900 million.

As a means of addressing this, the company has embarked on a tank and pump rehabilitation for an operational efficiency improvement programme. Through this project, the NWC will maximise the benefits of system storage within the pumped distribution network and improve the energy efficiency of pumping plants, among other things.

The tank component of the programme incorporates the refurbishing and re-commissioning of more than 30 existing potable water storage tanks, including re-engineering of the associated service network to effect a reduction in the system’s physical losses and energy consumption.

To date, work on the more than 30 tanks is almost complete with the overall cost of the tank replacement component being $575 million.

The 100,000 West Gate Hills #2 storage tank constructed at $30 million is among those in the programme.

On Thursday, an elated Malahoo Forte, who spoke about the tank in her 2020 presentation in Parliament, expressed how happy she is to have the tank commissioned.

“I am pleased that all of the issues that we had experienced between now and then have worked out to the point where it has been commissioned,” she said, adding that this tank is one of five being worked on in her constituency. She said the remaining four are to be commissioned soon.

The defective tank in the community was replaced following persistent representation made by resident Dawn Forester.

“It used to cause flooding and damage to retaining walls in the community. So I had actually written to the Water Commission about it,” stated Forester, who disclosed that it took a while before she received a response and during a town hall meeting the company had promised to repair or replace the defective tank.

“So, we actually welcome the commissioning of this new tank today. It should address the problems that we have had over the years,” said Forester.