'Thank God for the rain' - Cascade residents grateful for divine intervention to water woes

WESTERN BUREAU:Residents of Jericho, Cascade and Claremont in Hanover are displeased with the lengthy wait for the return of their water supply after the infrastructure to pipe the resource into their homes was removed to facilitate a more expansive project for the area.

"Thank God for the rain. If it wasn't for the rain, we would not be able to survive," said Roland Hamilton, a grocery shop operator living in Jericho for more than four decades.

The senior citizen said the move was made over 18 years ago, and there is no word from the political representatives, forcing them to at times to depend on less sanitary means.

"Buy we have to buy water. If we don't buy it, we won't get drinking water because the spring water is sometimes dirty," he added. "As for me and my wife, it is impossible for us to walk four miles and take water on our heads, so it is even more difficult for us."

unemployment rife

Unemployment plagues these communities that are home to some 3,000 residents, and those persons who have secured jobs are believed to be earning minimum-wage salaries or depend on farming to survive.

The National Water Commission (NWC) installed an irrigation system - or what the locals call 'a catchment' - in Cascade, but that has not been able to satisfy the needs of that community and its neighbouring districts.

During a recent visit to Cascade, disgruntled residents were seen waiting by community standpipes, some peeved that the 'pump man' had not released any water all day.

At the catchment, a NWC employee was seen removing debris from the water tank. He was, however, unwilling to speak to divulge any information, referring us to his regional office.

"I cannot definitively say what the situation is," said Mayor of Lucea Lloyd Hill and councillor for the Sandy Bay division, who has responsibility for the affected communities.

"I have made representation at the highest level up to recently, and although commitments were made, I am yet to see any action."

According to Hill, the Jamaica Social Investment Fund indicated a willingness to fund aspects of the project, but the NWC indicated that it had plans for something more substantial.

He said that with no specific timeline given, he sought to get both parties to come together and pool their funds, but this failed. Hill said he has been in talks with Dr Horace Chang, minister of water, housing and environment, without any success.

"Cascade has some engineering work to be done and, until that is done, we cannot put a timeline on it. The fact is, we do not have the capacity to deal with them all at once, but it is part of a long-term plan," Chang commented.

"This is up on the hill and those on the plains would be losing water, so it is a kind of a tricky situation. But a solution must be found, because we won't go through the costly exercise of laying pipes without a guarantee that supply will be constant."