St James councillors call out NWC for lack of water supply

WESTERN BUREAU:

Councillors in the St James Municipal Corporation [StJMC] have raked the National Water Commission (NWC) over the coals for alleged shoddy customer service, following multiple complaints of inconsistent water supply and disconnections of standpipes across communities in their respective divisions.

During last week Thursday’s monthly meeting of the municipal corporation, Mark McGann, StJMC’s councillor for the Somerton Division, blasted the NWC for reportedly refusing to allow water to be trucked to locations that are on the utility company’s main line, and issuing a notice about removal of standpipes in his division without consulting him.

“During COVID-19 time, the municipal corporation had set out to put in place what we call ‘water shops’, and these were provided to enhance lives where water was not available through the distribution system. But the NWC saw it fit to put a memorandum of understanding, saying that they would not allow water from the pumps to be trucked into these areas because these are areas supplied by the distribution lines,” the aggravated McGann told the meeting.

“The citizens are alleging that what was said, was that the councillor sent them a list of standpipes to be disconnected. You have situations like that where the water is not present and you are not able to supply it, and you decide to sully your partner in this? Because no discussion was held with me, I am upset today, and the citizens are upset,” McGann added. “I sought to have a conversation with the management, as I wanted the NWC to come and clarify to the citizens what it is that they are doing, if they are disconnecting because of nonpayment or if there is something else afoot, and they have refused.”

Anthony Murray, councillor for the Rose Hall Division, likewise complained that several communities in his division are without steady water supply for up to two months at a time.

“Why is it that my paying customers from Barrett Town, Spot Valley, Rhyne Park, and Rosevale have been without water for two weeks, and in some cases two months? And why is it that when the water does come, the pressure is so low that only a fraction of the area is covered. And why is it that the common excuse is that the single phases are affected?” Murray demanded.

“There are some serious issues taking place, and as a customer, I have not been able to use the bathroom in my office for the last two months, and I am on the main line,” Murray added.

In response, Montego Bay Mayor Leeroy Williams, chairman of the StJMC, said that a letter will be sent asking the NWC to explain its position on the disconnection of ‘social water’, or water distributed through standpipes.

When contacted for a comment, the NWC’s Corporate Communications Manager, Andrew Canon, directed The Gleaner to send him an email regarding the councillors’ statements. He said that while a response to that email would not be immediately forthcoming, the concerns outlined in the correspondence would be answered.

Complaints had previously been raised in April about the lack of consistent water supply in the Rhyne Park area, an issue which has been ongoing from as far back as 2013. Other communities, to include Orange, Herlock, and Irwin, were also affected by inconsistent water supply in 2014, prompting St James East Central Member of Parliament Edmund Bartlett at that time to call on the then Ministry of Land, Water and Housing to provide adequate water supply to the constituency.

Last month, Bartlett announced that a gravity-feed water system would be opened in Cedar Hill to provide water for several surrounding communities, including Dumfries, Goodwill, Adelphi, Sign, and Irwin Heights, to help alleviate the issue of low or no water supply in consumers’ pipes.

– Christopher Thomas