Letter of the Day | Fed up with NWC’s incompetence

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The pump that serves Bay View in Bull Bay, St Andrew, has been out of service for over one week.

It is beyond unfortunate that the NWC is unable to operate, manage and maintain a simple water pump installation that serves several communities in Bull Bay, and the problem is not new. This is the third breakdown of the pump this year.

The pump station was installed by the developer of several communities in Bull Bay that were built in the late 1960s with a water supply system comprising a well at the base of the hills of Rest Haven, pumped to a large concrete reservoir at the highest elevation of the community. The water was then gravity fed to the communities at the lower levels of the area.

The system was built with a generator in the event of a power failure and handed over to the KSAC/NWC. It has been in decline ever since, suffering from theft of fuel from the generator, illegal connections to the water line and a lack of maintenance from the responsible authorities. We now have unscheduled water disruptions for unknown periods.

This lack of water is especially unfortunate because it can be corrected and prevented, and a visit to the site of the well is a reflection of the lack of care of the NWC and KSAMC (formerly KSAC), which apparently have no ideas how to run or maintain the facility, stop the theft and maintain the physical pipes and storage tank.

As a matter of fact, NWC decided to stop using the tank and distribute water using the electrical pump only, resulting in the loss of water service in the event of a power failure.

UNACCEPTABLE

The actions of these government entities reflect a lack of capability to maintain these systems necessary for the orderly, daily activities of citizens who are trying to be productive and positive.

The level of mismanagement and incompetence is unacceptable.

If the management of the water commission was paying attention to the matter of providing water to its paying customers, they would find a way to secure their facilities and hire competent personnel to maintain and manage them.

They state with great pride these days that they have been making a profit, which should have encouraged them to improve their systems.

As a tax and fee paying citizen and resident of Bull Bay, I demand systems be implemented to remove the incompetence from these critical utility providers.

I am exhausted and fed up with the incompetence.

HUGH DUNBAR

Bull Bay