Minister with responsibility for Water, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr. says he is moving swiftly to identify the best mechanisms to distribute potable water to the communities most affected by the drought conditions.
 
The Minister stated that the “Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and the National Water Commission (NWC) will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the affected areas and design the most effective and efficient method to distribute water to the most affected areas”.
 
Minister Charles Jr., and a team from the ministry and the NWC, met with Members of Parliament for St Mary, Councillors, the Police and other stakeholders last week Friday (May 24) at the St. Mary Municipal Corporation, following a directive from Prime Minister Andrew Holness in Parliament last week.
 
“We want to maximize efficiency and so we are engaging the stakeholders to get from you your own views, your own perspective to design the best possible mechanism for the distribution of water”, stated Minister Charles Jr.
 
The Minister indicated that he wants to ensure that the allocation of the $125 Million to improve the distribution of water to the most affected areas is utilized in the best way possible.
 
“We start here, in St Mary, but we will be going across the country in short term to liaise with all the Members of Parliament, Councillors and stakeholders because our goal is to ensure that at the end of this we do not repeat the mistakes that we have made in the past and that we put in place and implement the strategies that are going to allow for us to properly prepare for the droughts that will come in the future”, explained Minister Charles Jr.
 
He added that the Government is strengthening the country’s capacity for adaptation and response strategies to drought and other weather systems.
 
“We know that Jamaica is a Small Island Developing State which is disproportionately impacted by climate change. We are not the ones that do the most damage but we are the ones that receive the greatest impact and one of the consequences of that is what we are feeling now”, acknowledged the Minister. 
 
The team from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and the National Water Commission will hold meetings with stakeholders in the most affected parishes.
 

                                                                                                                                                                                       –30–