PORT MARIA, St Mary — Arguing that they are the ones blamed when residents have no water, a number of councillors in St Mary have lambasted the National Water Commission (NWC) for poor performance and ineffective communication.

“All they are saying is ‘noted’ and there is no response. I am having a big challenge with that because people have been calling and I don’t know what to tell them. I don’t know if their system is down. I am asking for an update on some of these areas and if water can be trucked,” said an agitated Councillor Mitsy Hudson-Hicks (Jamaica Labour Party, Hampstead Division).

She was speaking during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St Mary Municipal Corporation. According to Hudson-Hicks, there is little recourse when messages and appeals for help are placed in the
WhatsApp group designed to facilitate communication between councillors and the NWC.

“We have been putting [messages] in the group and there is no response,” she complained.

There were similar concerns from Councillor Doreen Hutchinson (Jamaica Labour Party, Carron Hall Division). She said the area is in desperate need of water.

“There are two black tanks that I had placed in a section of my division in the community… They are now empty, and one of them, I understand, has burst at the bottom, leaving only one usable,” she said.

Hutchinson explained that the tanks had previously been filled with water from Carron Hall Spring but that is now dry because of the drought. She stressed that in addition to the adverse effect the lack of water is having on community members, it is also impacting a high school and girls’ home within her division. Hutchinson was adamant that a solution must be quickly identified. In the meantime, she continues to do what she can to alleviate the challenges being faced.

“I am currently seeking to get a larger size tank for the community,” she said.

Councillor Everton Garvey (People’s National Party, Islington Division) urged the NWC to do better.

“We need a better way of communicating in getting a proper response that we pose in the group as we are the ones that the people are seeking an answer from, and we are the ones getting the calls. However, it seems to me that the water commission doesn’t care about the welfare of the people of St Mary,” he argued.

During the meeting, mayor of Port Maria Fitzroy Wilson outlined the approach the corporation intends to take going forward.

“We want to make a list of all these communities and send them to [NWC] so when we have infrastructure meetings they cannot say they don’t have them or it’s the first they are hearing of it,” he said.

The mayor explained that the list would be presented to the corporation’s CEO who would then pass it on to the NWC.