Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, monitoring and trucking of water to schools in western Jamaica will be increased.

This comes as several parishes are being impacted by an ongoing drought.

“As you would have seen the projections for increased rainfall do not paint the picture we would like as such, we will be intervening to ensure that all of our schools have adequate storage. I have also had discussions with Mr Kevin Kerr[ Acting president of the National Water Commission] about increasing the monitoring and rate of trucking in our educational institutions. We don’t intend to allow for any learning loss with any of our schools,” Samuda said.

Head said a WhatsApp network will be established for schools to ensure that they are not disrupted by the ongoing drought.

“Schools are paramount and we don’t intend to cause any learning loss,” the water minister added.

He further noted that an assessment, led by the Rural Water Supply Limited, will be done in Hanover and Westmoreland to increase water storage over the next four to six weeks.

Steps are also being taken to minimise the impact of the drought on the hotel sector.

” I want to assure the hotel sector that I would have met with Mr Kerr earlier this morning and there is a safety net that will be put in place to ensure that hotels, from western St James all the way into Westmoreland at the tip of the West End, will be protected and their business will not be disrupted,” Samuda added.