MONTEGO BAY, St James — The National Water Commission (NWC) has again come under fire as Councillor Mark McGann (Jamaica Labour Party, Somerton Division) calls out the agency for its “inadequate supply of water” to the rural St James communities which he represents.

While the Canaan Pumping Station which supplies water to 13 rural communities is now in service, McGann told the Jamaica Observer West that several of these communities are still being plagued with a lack of running water.

“The situation hasn’t changed in any great significance because while the new pumps have been put in place, I can’t even tell you that any one community is now getting water. There are places in Canaan where the water is not being distributed, so people have to be buying their water,” McGann said.

The councillor went on to express grave disappointment in how the agency has been handling the plight of these residents.

“I am very disappointed in NWC. One of the excuses they keep giving is that many people are not paying [for] water. But you know what, if they send the commodity there and then send in their team to register the residents, I think they will have a high success rate,” McGann said.

Additionally, the St James Municipal Corporation (SJMC) has been forced to no longer truck water to these communities although they are without an adequate supply, McGann claimed.

“We used to truck water to the communities and NWC told us that we can’t supply water to areas that have their service, but these areas are still not being adequately serviced by them,” the councillor complained.

A resident of the rural community of Blytheston, Petula Williams-Kerr told the Observer West that she has been without running water for close to seven years.

She has now been forced to pay a hefty amount of money to truck water to her home and her business place.

“I buy water every two months for $25,000. I am a shop owner, so I have to take some of the water that I buy to my shop to use the bathroom,” said Williams-Kerr.

In the nearby community of Goodwill, 80-year-old resident Cleveland Horde told the Observer West that he was 50 years old the last time he had running water.

He, too, is hoping that the NWC takes control of this situation as he said residents have been disadvantaged for far too long.

“Mi would like fi see some water inna the area every day so the people dem can stop suffer fi water. We a suffer fi water fi too long now. Any time we get water is God give we,” Horde expressed.

Joining in on this call is another Blytheston resident who argued that residents shouldn’t be transporting water to their homes in the 21st century.

“I haven’t had water coming through my shower in five years and I have to be catching water to flush my toilet in 2022. This needs to be rectified, people want water in their pipes,” said the man who requested anonymity based on his profession.

He further argued, “they say we are not paying for water, but how can we pay for something we don’t get? What are we paying for, service charges?”

Due to topography and apparent low water pressure, Chatham resident Sonya Harwood’s household has been without piped water for five years.

“I hardly get water because I am living on a little hill, so even when water comes to the pipe down the road, I do not get it. I have two tanks that I purchase water from a truck to full. I have other tanks, but they are being supplied with water by the Lord,” Harwood said.

In his response to the Observer West, corporate communications manager at NWC Andrew Canon stated that these communities have been left without water due to the dilapidated pipeline in the rural St James division.

“The pipeline infrastructure in the Somerton Division is aged which results in breakages and these circumstances invariably impact water distribution. Our operational team has acted responsibly by effecting repairs generally in a timely manner once they are brought to our attention,” he said.

Acknowledging McGann’s claims that SJMC was forced to no longer truck water to these communities, Canon told the Observer West that “NWC has strict requirements in place regarding the trucking of water to its customers.”

“Trucks must be sterilised and replenished at their loading bay. Furthermore, the commission keeps a record of all customers who receive trucked water. This is for auditing [and] accountability purposes. We have communicated same to the municipal corporation,” said Canon.

“In light of the foregoing, a meeting was recently held with the Corporation where a mutual understanding was arrived at on the way going forward. In essence, we did establish some parameters that must be in place to ensure that quality water is trucked to our customers and there must be a high degree of accountability,” he added.