Holness says end coming to St James Southern’s water crisis
Published:Tuesday | July 22, 2025 | 12:07 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness says millions of dollars are now being spent to bring water to several well-established communities in St James Southern, which has been suffering from a chronic shortage of water over several years.
Holness, who was speaking during a Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Area Council Four meeting at the Anchovy High School in St James on Sunday, said the water investment includes a $600-million project to supply communities between Shettlewood and Anchovy, for which pipelines are being laid.
“I want you, the supporters of the party (JLP) and the general public listening, to appreciate that this is a government of action and performance, not of promises. Using South St James as the example, for those people who did not have water before in Catadupa, we have now commissioned a water supply system there, and the Shettlewood to Anchovy water supply, probably the largest expenditure on a water project in this constituency, is now underway, which is $600 million of investment,” said Holness.
“We have planned the Cambridge Treatment Plant facility, and we have been planning the water system for Spring Gardens Phase Two and Three and Maroon Town, and all those are in the works to come. Even though things are happening, there are persons who right now are without water, [but] pipes are being laid, pumps are being ordered; so you will get your water,” he added.
Residents and farmers in some of the communities in St James Southern have been living without water in their communities from as far back as the 1980s, which has been impeding their ability to function efficiently in their day-to-day activities.
While the JLP supporters at the meeting were seemingly happy with Holness’ announcement, a farmer from one of the affected areas told The Gleaner yesterday that he was quite sceptical about promises made on the campaign trail.
“We have been here suffering all along, and is only now that an election is coming we are hearing about it ... . I won’t get excepted until I see piped water running in my yard,” the farmer said. “This is not about politics, Mr Derrick Kellier [of the Opposition People’s National Party] was here, and we got no water, and Mr Homer Davis [of the JLP] is here, and we have no water ... what we have been getting is a lot of promises.”
In 2023, it was announced that roughly 15,000 residents were to benefit from an $800-million investment to update the water supply infrastructure in St James Southern. The project, which began on April 1, 2024, was announced as a three-year venture.
In his address that covered several areas, Holness accused the People’s National Party of failing to leave enough groundworks for his administration to build on, and of now using personal attacks to discredit what the JLP has done.
“They (PNP) can’t quarrel about the police stations that we built and are opening, the water projects that we are doing, the roads that we are fixing, or the jobs that we have created,” Holness said. “These are not things that you can contest, they are facts. So what they do now is to move to attack me, to say all we a do is walk and cut ribbon.
“Every government should be able to build upon the legacy of the government that came before. The PNP has not left us any legacy in water, in roads, in education, or in health. They presided over 18 and a half years of decline in our infrastructure, in our institutions, in our society,” said Holness.
In speaking to the efforts that he has made as member of parliament to bring water to some of the affected communities, Davis pointed to the ongoing J$1.4-million water projects and the other efforts he has been making.
“Up in the Johnson community, near Mocho, we put in a brand new 100,000-gallon water tank up there, and we are supplying water to Niagara and other places. In Montpelier, there is a water system that is being done as we speak, and some $800 million is being spent to take water from Shettlewood straight into Anchovy, Montpelier, Mt Carey, and Roehampton,” said Davis. “For the Top Roper and Maroon Town water supply system, designs are already completed, and it is now going to procurement, at a cost of $520 million. When I do the calculation, St James Southern is poised to benefit to the tune of $1.4 billion to bring del water to the constituency.”