Big stink over UWI water shortage
Published:Monday | April 14, 2014 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The drought has made this one of the worst water shortages I have seen in my not-so-long life in this part of the country.
How is it that we speak of sustainability and vision when a simple thing such as providing water for the Jamaican citizens seems to be elusive? The Mona Dam was built in 1944, and the population of Jamaica has grown so much more since then.
You can't have, at the University of the West Indies, Mona, 600-plus students in a vicinity with only one hour for the entire day allotted to the students to gather water and expect that to be sufficient.
The bathrooms are filthy, with excrement piling up. Dirty dishes in the sink are as high as the ceiling. And persons have to wait for the scheduled time to bathe - and then when the time comes, there is still no water!
The money that is used to call trucks every two hours, or when portable toilets are hired for the students to use, could have been avoided if measures were put in place for a proper back-up system.
I am very disappointed in the National Water Commission's plan to enhance and expand facilities to provide more water for the population. This is an annual phenomenon and should not have affected us to these great levels, especially when exams are approaching.
ASHA CHANG
Final-year student