KINGSTON, Jamaica – The National Water Commission (NWC) on Friday lifted the Prohibition Order it had earlier this year imposed against the non-essential or excessive use of water it supplies in certain sections of the country.

The Prohibition Order had been imposed to make it a prosecutable offense to either waste NWC-supplied water or use excessive amounts of its potable water for non-essential purposes as part of the response to severe drought conditions that affected sections of the island for several months.

NWC President Mark Barnett says that recent rainfall and the improved storage levels at the main storage reservoirs no longer warrant the imposition of the Prohibition Order- hence the decision to lift it.

The Prohibition Order had made it punishable by a fine imposed by the Parish Courts or, for failing to pay the fine, imprisonment for up to thirty days, for offenses deemed wasteful use of the limited potable water available from drought-stricken water systems.

– JIS