ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica— Prime Minister Andrew Holness says more short-term plans are being implemented to address the water woes in Negril amid drought conditions there.

“We have already started to execute some of the short term plans which includes the decalcifying of one of the mains, which should be completed today for the Great River, which will increase the capacity of that system the through out of the pipes by taking out the debris that has calcified in the pipes [and] give the pipes greater capacity. We are expecting that the people of Negril will have in short order some partial relief,” he said on Friday.

“It is not a complete solution, but there are plans to put in new pipelines, new plants and to find new sources. The challenge in Negril is that the water source that we rely on is drying up because of the drought and even with the rains that we have received, it has not returned to full capacity,” added Holness.

The prime minister was addressing the media in Pepper, St Elizabeth while on tour of a catchment and pumping facility as part of the Greater Mandeville Water Supply.

He said the Government is also looking at long term water investments for Negril.

“Weather variability is having an impact and we are going to have to find a way to mitigate that by making some long term capital investments in Negril,” he said.

— Kasey Williams