MPs raise doubts over trucked water

At least two members of parliament (MPs) on Tuesday suggested that some consumers are receiving water from trucks that is not sourced from potable National Water Commission (NWC) supplies.

The current severe drought is significantly affecting the NWC’s water sources and its ability to deliver piped water daily to some of its customers.

During a discussion with NWC officials at Tuesday’s sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Franklin Witter, MP for St Elizabeth South Eastern, said the National Irrigation Commission has loading bays in rural areas to supply water for farming.

However, he said that during periods of severe drought, some people collect the irrigation water and sell it for domestic purposes.

Heroy Clarke, MP for St James Central, told the committee that it was difficult to verify whether the water being delivered to consumers is potable at all times.

“Whether we like it or not, it is something that is happening that the water that they are providing as potable water sometimes leaves us to question when you see a truck at the roadside taking water from a spring or some water source that you know, you understand me,” he said.

According to Clarke, the need for potable water is so vital that consumers do not even inquire about the source of the water.

DISGRACEFUL BEHAVIOUR

Another MP raised concerns about the sums being charged for water delivered to customers.

MP for St Andrew West Rural Juliet Cuthbert Flynn said operators of some water trucks are charging significant sums to deliver the commodity to communities without water.

She said water trucks, in some cases, were pulling water from standpipes and selling it to NWC customers.

“Pulling water from standpipes that we the taxpayers are paying for and then selling it to the communities,” she lamented.

PAC Chairman Julian Robinson asked NWC officials whether persons in the water-trucking business are regulated by any government agency.

He also questioned whether there are particular sources from which they obtain the water and whether they are checked to determine if they meet NWC’s minimum standards.

Garth Jackson, vice-president, enterprise and capital projects, at the NWC, said the commission regulates the contractors it engages.

He said water trucks have to be inspected and sterilised, among other requirements.

“In terms of the broader situation where water truckers can go to some source and get water for communities – that would fall under the public health requirements for them to be properly regulated,” Jackson said.

He said operators of water trucks contracted to carry the commodity for the NWC are certified.

However, he noted that the operators set their own prices, as the NWC cannot set rates for them to sell to consumers.

Delano Williams, acting corporate public relations manager at the NWC, said the commission would be making adjustments to how it delivers water to various communities in the Corporate Area.

“We have to contemplate adjusted schedules – shifting from daily supplies in some spaces to alternating the supplies for those communities,” he said.

Williams explained that, during the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. window, or 6 p.m. to the next morning, water does not reach most customers.

“What we are contemplating is to introduce a targeted supply time for some of those areas,” he added.

He said the changes would be announced and published by the end of the week so that the communities to be impacted would be guided.

Williams said if the commission tries to serve all the communities at the same time, nobody will receive water and, as a result, designated areas will be served on different days.

The NWC’s chief spokesman said that around this time last year, the Mona Reservoir was above 60 per cent in terms of capacity, and the year before it was at 98 per cent. He said the Mona Reservoir is now at about 33 per cent.

At the same time, the Hermitage Dam, which serves Constant Spring, was at 100 per cent around this time in 2025 and a similar volume the year before. At present, he said, the dam is at 40 per cent.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com