By Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner WriterTHE NATIONAL Water Commission (NWC) is blaming the breakdown of some of its installations on frequent disruptions in the public electricity supply provided by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo).
NWC president E.G. Hunter told the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) Tuesday that the Commission had identified the central parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth as those most affected by the problem.
Mr. Hunter was responding, in part, to concerns raised by the Auditor-General in his 2001/2002 report which highlighted six NWC installations, which, at the time, were experiencing serious maintenance problems.
"In some instances, motors were burnt, pumps were taken out for repairs and not replaced; one of the schemes was under-utilised as quite frequently no water reached the pumping station; while another was not operating due to a burnt electrical panel, which was removed but was not replaced," the Auditor-General reported.
The NWC, in its written response to the PAC, had attributed the problems largely to "adverse variations in the quality of electricity supply, which the systems were not designed to withstand and against which the best maintenance regimes are ineffective."
In his appearance before the PAC Tuesday, Mr. Hunter said "the Central Region suffers continually from fluctuations in the public electricity supply."
The region covers Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.
POWER OUTAGES
The NWC, he explained, keeps a log of all power outages that affect any of the NWC's facilities, islandwide. Responding to a query from PAC Chairman, Audley Shaw, Mr. Hunter asserted that outages contributed significantly to some of the pumps being burnt out.
Pressed by Committee members, he reiterated that the problem was largely confined to the Central Region.
The two utility companies are engaged in dialogue, he told the Committee, to arrive at a formula for settling the matter.
The matter of compensation has not yet been broached by the NWC, he said.
The Committee chairman and another member, Dr. Morais Guy of Central St. Mary, also raised the possibility of compensation being taken up as well by householders who believe that their appliances may have been damaged by power cuts.
The JPSCo, in a written response to queries following Mr. Hunter's presentation, said that "in the event "where damage appears to have been caused by JPS, the resulting claim or claims will be considered on an individual basis, as with all other customers."
While acknowledging that damage does occur to NWC pumps, the power company asserted that it was "for reasons not related to electricity supply", but said "every effort is made to ensure constant electricity supply to all NWC pumps."
Concerns about damaged installations aside, JPSCo affirmed that the two utilities enjoy a close working relationship.
