KINGSTON, Jamaica – A 1,000-gallon water tank has been donated to the Windsor Castle Primary and Infant School in Portland by Courts Ready Cash as part of efforts to provide water-harvesting solutions to the institution.

The donation took place at the institution’s premises in Windsor Castle, Portland, on February 29, and forms part of Courts Ready Cash water tank initiative.

In her remarks, Minister of Education and Youth, Fayval Williams, expressed gratitude for the donation.

“The Ministry continues to solicit the support of corporate Jamaica to help us through public and private partnerships, to provide the well-needed resources for us to make advancements in education. Courts Ready Cash has been generous in providing water-storage tanks for our schools in need,” she said.

The Minister said the additional storage container will ensure that “there is additional surety for the students to receive education, even when water is not available in the main”.

Her remarks were delivered by Senior Education Officer, Ministry of Education and Youth, Tanya Sinclair.

Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, and Member of Parliament for Portland Western Daryl Vaz, said the corporate entity, through its donation, is assisting in improving the well-being of students and teachers at the institution.

He said as Member of Parliament, he had arranged for the trucking of water to many affected communities during times of drought, noting that climate change has impacted weather conditions.

His message was delivered by a teacher at the institution, Ann Marie Roulston.

Principal at the institution, Robert Watson, said the school is elated about the donation and looks forward to a continued partnership.

“Water is indeed life and this time when the use of this vital commodity and our daily practices have reduced its availability, the need to store and conserve is more apparent. Windsor Castle Primary and Infant School says thanks to Courts Ready Cash… We want to say thanks for this kind gesture,” he said.

In her address, Brand Manager, Courts Ready Cash, Kerry Ann Ramdeen-Johns, said the corporate entity is guided by the ethos to make a positive impact on the lives and communities they serve.

“Today we mark the eighth leg of our water-tank donation initiative. Faced with decreased rainfall and drought, our water-shortage conditions across the country, we have taken action to provide relief to the hardest hit parishes starting with Clarendon, St Thomas, St Mary, and Hanover and will continue with St Catherine, St Andrew and [Portland],” she said, in her remarks delivered by Marketing Officer, Courts Ready Cash, Toni-Ann Latty.

She said the initiatives aim to increase water harvesting and storage opportunities in selected primary and secondary schools.

Ramdeen-Johns informed that donations have been made at Mount Ward Primary in Hanover; Brixton Hill Primary and Kellits High, Clarendon; Duckenfield Primary School, St Thomas; Gaynstead High, Kingston, and Clonmel Primary and Bromley Primary, St Mary.

-JIS