MEMBERS of the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee of Parliament were left scratching their heads on Wednesday as the National Water Commission’s (NWC) glowing recovery figures came under sharp scrutiny at Gordon House when they questioned how the numbers behind Jamaica’s post-Melissa water restoration squared with the grim reality in severely affected parishes in the west.

Acting vice-president of operations at the NWC Dr Phillipa Campbell-Francis told the committee that the utility company had restored 75 per cent of its systems islandwide following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, which ravaged sections of Jamaica in October. But committee members said the numbers did not reflect what residents in their constituencies had been experiencing.

“We’re understanding that you all have over 1,000 islandwide facilities that require electricity. We’ve listened… but we’re not really coming to terms with, or I am not, as a committee member, understanding how to get past this — what the numbers mean,” said James Robertson, Member of Parliament for St Thomas Western.

Robertson said the situation appeared far more dire than the NWC’s figures suggested, noting that many rural and western communities remained without piped water, weeks after the storm.

“When you have 25 per cent or 20,000 out by your records… I believe Jamaica’s physical infrastructure, water challenge, is far greater than we are getting…I mean, I really understand, it’s been very helpful, but I believe we’re not accomplishing what this committee needs to accomplish on this issue…Yes, we’re learning, but we’re not getting [or] coming to terms with what’s in front of us as committee members,” he added.

Committee Chairman Heroy Clarke, Member of Parliament for St James Central, echoed the frustration, saying that, while the NWC’s report appeared promising on paper, communities in his parish were still without water.

“You see the problem is that we, as legislators, we are also residents, residents in a community, and we grappled at this point, especially me, grappled with the situation that, yes, I am here as a legislator, listening to you, trying to understand the numbers, the figures that you’re putting to us, but when I am, when I’m in my community, I have no water. I live in Farm Heights, on top of the hill, everybody around me has no water, and I’m trying to get an understanding of how do you come up with that number to say that we are here, and so I wouldn’t say we’re failing. We just, we just need to understand, or you need to break it down to us, just take us as the layman, just take us as a regular customer out there,” said Clarke.

He also criticised the inefficiency of the NWC’s filling stations, saying the process of trucking water was painfully slow and left many communities underserved.

“For the truck to go to Reading and wait an hour, hour and a half to be filled, and then have to take another hour and a half to go through that traffic to get to Mount Salem, Farm Heights to deposit that one truckload of water, it takes another hour and a half to get back to the filling station. You end up spending six hours to carry one load of water,” he further lamented.

“This is the reality on the ground. So sending five trucks to St James sounds good on paper, but five trucks in St James trying to get water to residents is not even a drop in the bucket. We don’t see it any at all and so the million-dollar question is: We know that service electricity has been restored to Great River, but water coming to Appleton Hall to be lifted to the higher elevation, how soon? It is of dire, dire need for electricity to be restored or to be provided at these two pumping stations… because, again, no amount of truck water is going to suffice,” Clarke added.

MPs also raised doubts about the methodology behind the NWC’s figures. Richard Azan, Member of Parliament for Clarendon North Western, quipped that it seemed as if the utility was relying on “a drone to get these numbers”, drawing laughter, but underscoring the committee’s deep concern about the accuracy of the data.

Campbell-Francis, during her presentation, explained that the NWC’s recovery effort was complex, given the 1,000 water systems it operates islandwide — most of which depend on electricity to function.

She explained that the NWC conducted its recovery in two phases: a first physical inspection by field teams, followed by technical assessments to determine which systems could safely be restarted. Of its 760 primary facilities, she said, assessments had been completed, while the remaining 200 systems — mainly in deep-rural areas — were still awaiting inspection or repairs.

Many of those systems, she said, were either damaged by flooding, blocked by heavy siltation at intake points, or left inoperable due to the lack of power from the Jamaica Public Service.

“For most of those 200 facilities not yet checked, that is where the 25 per cent of the customers would be,” she said, noting that some systems in Hanover, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth were running on rented generators at reduced capacity.

In western Jamaica, major systems such as Great River in St James and Martha Brae in Trelawny were now operating but at only 50 per cent of capacity.

Adding to the picture, NWC Corporate Public Relations Manager Delano Williams said about 45 to 48 per cent of customers in the six hardest-hit western parishes currently had access to running water.

“In terms of physical residents, we average each customer point as a household of four. So you’re looking at just under 700,000 persons in this space; at 50 per cent restoration, about 85 to 90,000 customers have access to water as at this morning,” Williams said.

Meanwhile, Communication and Public Affairs Manager Charles Buchanan sought to explain why some communities still had no water even after their systems were said to be restored.

“A customer who is connected to that particular system may hear that the system is back, but it’s gonna take, in some instances, a day, two, or even more for the system to become fully charged,” Buchanan said. He added that empty household tanks and leaks in damaged pipelines had also slowed progress.

Dr Campbell-Francis also revealed that the NWC had been receiving support from Global Support and Development, which docked a ship at Point, Lucea, to provide six 4,000-gallon tanks and hundreds of bottled water containers to affected communities in Hanover and Westmoreland.

However, with several parishes — including Westmoreland (43 per cent restored) and St Elizabeth (28 per cent restored) — still lagging far behind, the committee urged the NWC to provide clearer data and realistic timelines for full restoration.

From left: Richard Azan, Member of Parliament for Clarendon North Western; Duane Smith, Member of Parliament for St. Andrew North Western; and James Robertson, Member of Parliament for St Thomas Western all sitting as members of the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee at Gordon House on Wednesday. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

Acting Vice President of operations at NWC, Dr Phillipa Campbell-Francis (left) and Communication and Public affairs manager at NWC , Charles Buchanan speaking during the sitting of the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee at Gordon House on Wednesday. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)