South Trelawny still looks to rain for water
Published:Saturday | September 17, 2011 | 12:00 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
Dr Horace Chang, minister of housing, environment and water, says plans are afoot to construct a new water system to serve sections of South Trelawny, but others will have to continue their dependence on rainfall.
"We have completed the design, so the next thing will be the procurement process, which will take some time, but we would anticipate work to begin in November or December," Chang explained on Tuesday.
"However, there are some areas whose dependence on rainwater is a culture, and that has to still be encouraged."
This dependence, he explained, is due to the abundance of limestone in the region. He explained that despite a number of water systems in the region, a reliable water supply in South Trelawny is not guaranteed as it is difficult to get water there.
Chang was responding to criticisms from the South Trelawny Environmental Agency (STEA) that almost two-thirds of the water pumped from Ulster Spring to Albert Town by the National Water Commission (NWC) is wasted, while the region continues to face chronic water shortage.
Only the communities of Ulster Spring, Spring Garden, Rock Spring and Troy have water piped to their homes.
Limited piped water
"Communities are mostly served by catchments, only four communities have piped water," said STEA Executive Director High Dixon. "They collect the water at no cost, distribute it at a high cost, but provide none for the source."
Dixon has conducted a water forum that brought all the communities supplied in South Trelawny together, and found that the Trelawny Parish Council supplies 16 districts, five are served by the NWC, while 12 are dependent on rainfall.
There are some 33 communities in South Trelawny and five major rivers that are fed from the aquifers (Black River, Great River, Montego River, Cabarita River and the Martha Brae) under the Cockpit Country. Interestingly, the parishes of St Elizabeth, Hanover, St James, Westmoreland and Trelawny derive their water supply, in whole or part, from these same sources.