Beecher Town water woes draw diaspora intervention

Residents of Beecher Town in St Ann continue to struggle with irregular water supply, despite the availability of several water sources elsewhere in the parish.

The community, which sits just over three miles in the hills overlooking Ocho Rios, has long relied on purchasing water for daily use.

Now, a United States-based non-profit organisation, the Beecher Town Give Back Association (BTGBA), has stepped forward to help coordinate efforts aimed at securing regular water supply for residents.

The BTGBA said it has developed a feasibility study outlining measures to establish a proper water system in the community. The document has been submitted to key stakeholders, including the area councillor, the member of parliament, relevant ministers, and the National Water Commission (NWC), with a request for a response by April 30.

However, the councillor for the Beecher Town Division, Ian Bell, has dismissed the move, describing it as late and unnecessary.

According to the BTGBA, the issue of residents purchasing water from trucks is not a recent one and has persisted for generations, even though reliable access exists just minutes away in Ocho Rios.

“Access to piped water is a basic human right. We are asking the relevant authorities to respond by April 30 and demonstrate that communities like Beecher Town are not being overlooked,” the BTGBA, represented by President Fay Grocia and diaspora member Sharon Codner, said.

Bell, however, told The Gleaner that several feasibility studies had already been carried out and that the authorities were aware of the issue. Plans, he said, are already in place to address it.

According to Bell, a housing development currently under construction in Beecher Town will attract water supply that is expected to serve the wider community.

“I would have done all the feasibility studies, brought NWC people and everybody to the area, and we are just waiting on the development to be completed at Walkerswood, so that we can get some water. Water will be coming from Walkerswood to meet the water coming from Shaw Park.

“A six-inch main will be coming from Shaw Park up to the development and beyond to the community,” Bell confirmed.

He was, however, unable to provide a specific timeline for when water would reach the residents.

In the meantime, residents say they continue to cope as best as they can. When The Gleaner visited Beecher Town on Saturday, residents reported that they have no reliable source of potable water and are forced to buy water for drinking and cooking, sometimes paying up to $3,000 for a tankful.

For other household chores, residents rely on water from an open catchment facility, to which a single standpipe is connected.

“It rough up here, we have to depend on rainwater or have to buy water,” one resident, Andrea, told The Gleaner.

Carl Gilchrist