Several schools were closed yesterday due to major disruptions that have been affecting the water supply in large sections of Portmore, St Catherine, and several sections of the Corporate Area.

Port Henderson Primary, Bridgeport Primary and Portsmouth Primary were just a few of the schools that were closed yesterday due to these disruptions.

Lorna Lewis, principal at Bridgeport Primary, told The Gleaner that the school began experiencing problems with its water supply on Tuesday.

"Yesterday (Wednesday) when we came to the school, there was not any water. Later on in the day it came back but the pressure was low and we tried to continue with it; by the end of the school day, however, there was no water in the pipes again," Lewis said.

"When we came this morning, we were stuck in the same predicament and decided to call the radio and make an announcement, telling the parents not to send their children to school. If the situation persists, then we will have to do the same again tomorrow (today)."

Nwc working to correct problem

When contacted, Charles Buchanan, manager of corporate public relations at the National Water Commission, told The Gleaner the utility company was doing everything in its power to fix the problem.

"We discovered several major breaches to the Rio Cobre/Tulloch Springs pipeline. These breaches made it virtually impossible for the pipeline to deliver water to our customers and, in addition, if the breaches were not addressed immediately it would have run the risk of further damage and dislocation to the pipeline," Buchanan said. "That was the basis on which the emergency decision was taken to have the pipeline shut down, in order to have these breaches corrected."

He added: "It's being done as swiftly as possible. We hope that we will complete this later on today (yesterday)."

Grace McLean, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, said she hoped the NWC would have completed its operations by yesterday evening.

McLean also noted that the ministry would follow up on the situation and provide the appropriate intervention where necessary.

"We will follow up on this later on today (yesterday) with the principals of these schools to find out if they have water. If not, we will ensure that they have an adequate supply so that school can resume tomorrow as we do not allow a school to close because there is no water unless it is not possible to get water to that school."

alessandro.boyd@gleanerjm.com