Residents rob school of water
Angered by month of dry pipes, Wakefield turns on its own
Published:Thursday | November 11, 2021 | 12:12 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer -
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Residents of Wakefield in St Catherine have resorted to robbing the water supply from the local primary school after going more than a month with dry taps at their homes. Principal of Wakefield Primary School, Tameca Riley-Powell, told The Gleaner...
Residents of Wakefield in St Catherine have resorted to robbing the water supply from the local primary school after going more than a month with dry taps at their homes.
Principal of Wakefield Primary School, Tameca Riley-Powell, told The Gleaner on Wednesday that due to the district’s dire situation, she has had to reopen school without running water for her staff and pupils.
Wakefield Primary was one of 376 primary schools that were selected to reopen for face-to-face classes on Monday after being shuttered for the last 20 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Locals have begun to rapidly draw from three 3,000-litre vertical water tanks and one 3,000-gallon horizontal container after calls to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information for the precious commodity to be trucked were answered.
“By the time we leave here, all the tanks are empty [on] a daily basis ... . I left two of those rations filled Friday evening and by Saturday morning, they were both empty,” said Riley-Powell.
The alarming depletion of stored water for the school’s more than 200 students and staffers has jeopardised hygiene and other vital needs at the rural institution, said Riley-Powell.
On Wednesday afternoon, the school started implementing tougher security measures that will allow the all-female school administration easier access to pipe locks, allowing them to better manage the flow of water and turn off the supply permanently when not in use until the next school day.
Shawn Wittick, who lives in Wakefield, said the supply crisis has had a withering effect on the community, with residents forced to traverse up and down hills and valleys to quench their thirst at the lone functional pipe in the town’s square.
Waking up as early as 6 a.m. to get there to start filling containers has been a daily routine for Wittick and others.
The pipe is reportedly turned off by noon and supply returns the following day, residents said.
“We always haffi a depend pon rain,” another chimed in, adding that many cannot afford to pay $500 to fill a drum.
A livestock farmer who spoke to The Gleaner on condition of anonymity says he needs more water than the average resident because of the needs of his drove of pigs.
This, combined with his personal need for water, for domestic use, has put him in a financial bind.
“I’m suffering right now,” he said, referring to the cost of trucking in water. “It’s very inconveniencing in more ways than one.”
Residents said that despite the installation of a pump that was taken out of service for repairs a few weeks ago, the unit has not been activated because of turbidity of the water.