Residents in Dalvey, St Thomas can now breathe a sigh of relief following the commissioning of a $20 million water storage facility yesterday (Wednesday, February 8).

Speaking at the commissioning of the Frazer Hill Storage Tank Replacement Project, Minister with responsibility for Water, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda said last year, every parish benefitted from capital works carried out by the National Water Commission, NWC.

“When we looked at the range of capital projects, there is no parish that has been left out. Every single parish, last year, received capital works from the NWC to expand the utility footprint of the Commission. There is repair work but not new capital projects in every parish”, stated Minister Samuda.

Minister Samuda added that this year, “not only will we be in every parish, but we will be no more than 5 kilometers from almost every single township in Jamaica with capital works this year, a feat that hasn’t been achieved before…What you are seeing is a bit of the renaissance for the National Water Commission”.

The Frazer Hill Storage Tank Replacement Project marks the first of many that will be undertaken by the NWC, this year. The Glass-Fused-To-Steel Bolted Tank at Frazer Hill which has a storage capacity of 50,000 gallons will serve approximately 4,500 residents.

In the meantime, Minister Samuda disclosed that the country is currently in the throes of a Meteorological Drought.

He advised that the Government, in the coming weeks, will announce the steps to be taken in response to the Drought. The response, he says, will include national public education to ensure that everyone is on board.

“While the situation is not chronic, Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has asked to be briefed and for a programme to be developed so that he can put the appropriate measures in place”, explained Minister Samuda.

“We’re at the point where inflows are below outflows. So, we are seeing depletions in our major systems at a rate that we don’t want to see”, the Minister noted, adding that “We’re not going to wait until things are chronic in the way that we used to, and take action after”.

Residents were urged to conserve on their use of water, and to report leaks to the NWC.

–30–