Calabar promised water relief next week

WESTERN BUREAU:

The water woes that have been plaguing the Calabar community near Duncans, Trelawny, could be alleviated in the coming week as Councillor Fabian Davis says plans are in place to bring the commodity to residents.

“Beginning next week, we will embark on the trucking of water into the district. We will also establish water stations, where we will place 1,000-gallon tanks,” Davis told The Gleaner earlier this week.

“I own a 3,000-gallon water truck, which I will make available to supplement the NWC’s trucking of water,” he added, referencing the National Water Commission.

According to the residents, while the NWC has been trucking water into the community, it is not being done consistently to adequately address their needs.

Speaking at a community meeting in Calabar on Wednesday, Aubyn Green, the NWC’s community services manager for Trelawny, told residents that several factors, including the passage of Hurricane Melissa, were responsible for the protracted delay in addressing their water issues.

“The hurricane destroyed the facilities at the Dornoch Pumping Station, and that station was responsible for pumping water to the reservoir in the district,” Green told the residents. “To compound our problem, the bridge which facilitated access to the pump station was also destroyed.”

According to Green, the NWC has now secured the funding need to replace the ageing pipelines in the community as well as to construct a 200-gallon reservoir in the area.

Still receiving water bills

Icylin Barrett, a resident of the community, told Green that despite not getting water in their pipes, they are still receiving water bills from the NWC.

“You will have to visit the NWC’s office, where a case-by-case investigation can be carried out,” said Green.

Despite the promises made by both Davis and Green, the long-suffering residents were not impressed, having endured so much suffering in the nine months since Hurricane Melissa.

“All my life I have lived in Calabar, and this is the worst situation I have experienced,” said Maxine Headlam, a former regional director in the Ministry of Education. “I have had to be buying water from a truck which does not have a sanitised certificate. I am just hoping for the best.”

Calabar is in the proximity of the Cockpit Country, which supplies 40 per cent of the nation’s fresh water.

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