Prime Minister Andrew Holness has urged Jamaicans to remain faithful as the government continues to work to ensure that all residents have access to an adequate water supply.

“For the communities that are without water now, your voice is heard. I personally care about it. And the government that I administer on your behalf, we are working hard to correct and improve. And you can take hope and have faith because others who were in your position now have water,” he said.

Holness stated that the government is now active with 425 million US dollars of investment, or 67.5 billion Jamaican dollars of investment, in the water supply for the western end of the island.

“That is going to ensure that you have a reliable water supply, ensure that the water supply is expanded to those who now don’t have it, and ensure that in the event of shocks, whether they be weather shocks or other kinds of shocks, you will have water. That is a promise, that is a commitment, that is active and strongly made,” he added.

Challenges with supplying water

The prime minister highlighted that the problem with water stems from multiple dimensions.

Holness stated that while it can be assumed that it’s because the existing government is doing nothing or is ineffective, the reason there is no water is a complex problem. “Though it is complex, it is also contradictory because all of you would have grown up in school knowing Jamaica to be the land of wood and water, and that adds to the frustration. At the same time, we have rivers and deep wells and all kinds of hydrological features, but some communities are simply dry and without water. At the same time, we get heavy floods. And then in a few weeks, the rivers are dry.

“Well, historically, we did not settle where we had established a water supply. So we are dealing with a historical settlement pattern where population centres are not in proximity to water sources. So that means that there have to be massive investments in bringing water from sources to population centres,” he continued while speaking to residents and stakeholders at the launch of the Western Resilience Water Project in Trelawny.

He stated that the Western Resilience Water Project will help eliminate the water challenges, as the government will be bringing water from all kinds of sources, including the Martha Brae River, the White River, to as far as Negril. “So you see that though we are blessed with water and the water falls freely from the sky, the pipeline has to be purchased. The well has to be dug. The tanks for storage have to be built. Not to mention the pumps and the lovely workers at the NWC (National Water Commission) who have to be paid. So water is an expensive infrastructure, and it becomes even more expensive because of our history of spatial settlement and our geography,” Holness added.