Portmore residents cry for end to water woes
Published:Saturday | December 31, 2022 | 1:05 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
Residents of sections of Portmore in St Catherine say they are at their wits’ end as a persistent water crisis has been making their lives miserable.
They told The Gleaner that the situation, which they have been grappling with for several years, marred their holidays with just a trickle flowing through their pipes on Christmas Day. Some said they did not even receive a drop during the day.
“Jesus, have mercy! Mi can’t take it no longer,” Martha Johnson, a resident of Independence City, told The Gleaner in frustration. “Every day you turn on the pipe, is pure air a come through it.”
Johnson, who has been living in the community for over four years, said that the problem has worsened over the years despite numerous complaints to the National Water Commission (NWC).
“I am tired of the situation where I have to be buying water and storing it to flush the toilets. You know how long mi nuh get water in the shower? A basin and bath pan mi have to bathe in,” she said, noting that whenever there is water in the pipes the pressure is very low.
Claudia Edwards, a 50-year resident of Passagefort Drive in Independence City, said that sometimes, for several days, she is without water. This creates undue hardship for her family, she told The Gleaner.
“It is really at the point where it seems that the NWC don’t care about us any more. At nights, when we expect the water to full up our tanks, we don’t have none in the pipes,” she said.
Edwards continued: “To make matters worse, even with the inconsistent water supply, my bills keep going up. Recently I had to buy six truckloads for $4,000 per load because I had a death in the family and needed water badly.”
Residents in the Waterford and Cumberland communities also vented their disgust with the water crisis.
Five-year water project
The residents are experiencing the problem despite the National Water Commission and MIYA Jamaica co-managing a five-year water project valued at US$5.9 million to reduce non-revenue water losses in Portmore.
The project, which started in March 2021, has an added component to improve the service of water to Portmore customers.
Senator Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, promised the residents that they would see improved services with the installation of regulation systems to improve water pressure when he toured the project in October.
However, Courtney Edwards, the councillor for the Independence City Division, told The Gleaner that the effectiveness of the system is yet to be realised.
“The residents are experiencing severe hardships, and something must be done with alacrity,” said Edwards, who also lives in the community.
Several attempts by The Gleaner to get a response to the situation from officials at the NWC were unsuccessful.