A member of the St James Municipal Corporation, Councillor Arthur Lynch (Montego Bay South Eastern Division, Jamaica Labour Party), is warning of possible protest action by residents of his division if the water woes they are facing are not eased in short order.

Speaking to the Jamaica Observer recently, the first-term councillor disclosed that the mood is tense in his division as residents grow more frustrated with the lack of water in the community.

“There has been no water in the Rose Heights, Branch Hall, Rosemount, Farm Heights and other areas for a month and a half and this is not something they are used to. They are fed up,” said Lynch.

“There is an urgent need for attention because if not, I can’t tell you that the place will remain in a calm state. Maybe we’ll have a major protest coming up based on what we’re hearing on the ground,” added Lynch.

He told the Observer that he has been trying his best to keep the residents calm, but it’s a tough job given that they have been without the precious commodity for more than one month and each day it makes things worse.

According to Lynch, so far the information coming from the National Water Commission (NWC) is that it is working to remedy various issues but nothing definitive about that particular situation.

“They say they are fixing pump at Appleton Hall; they had repaired a pump in Trelawny; they had repaired some blockage in Great River; but otherwise they are not getting any concrete answers about this situation.

“This is not the norm because the majority of the residents of the Rose Heights area normally get running water through their pipes on a day to day basis but for the last month and half, it has been a challenge,” said Lynch.

He added that to try and deal with the situation residents have to be finding money and resorting to other means to get water as the situation grows more dire by the day.

“Persons have to be forking out six, seven and eight thousand dollars and begging for water truck to come into the area to actually sell them the water,” the councillor charged.

Lynch said the ability to purchase water is limited for some residents as the amount they are being asked to pay is more than they earn in a week.

Lynch said the political directorate has been working to ease the woes of the residents but even then there are challenges.

“The councillor and the Member of Parliament do facilitate the trucking of water but in St James there is only one certified truck,” lamented Lynch.

“We have tried to get trucks from Trelawny and Hanover but they too have been having water issues so we’re unable to get any trucks; hence, we are unable to provide any trucks in the Rose Heights area consistently for persons who are out of water for extended periods of time,” said Lynch.