The Government is taking further steps to increase its capacity to respond to water disruptions across the island with the procurement of eight water trucks valued at $105 million, which will be added to the National Water Commission’s fleet.

Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Most Hon. Andrew Holness, handed over the trucks to the NWC at a ceremony held on the agency’s Marescaux Road compound today.

The trucks with an estimated capacity of 35,000 gallons of water were procured from Tank Weld Limited. This will bring the number of operational water trucks at the NWC to 16.

“In 2020, just as we were going through the pandemic we were also going through a drought. And indeed, a part of Manchester had no water. We were not able to respond in an effective way because the parish council did not have water trucks and the NWC did not have water trucks, as was pointed out last time that an administration had purchased water trucks was under the Bruce Golding administration in 2009,” the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Holness informed that this gap in the water utility company’s armour prompted the need for additional water trucks to maintain regular supply to citizens.

“We took the decision that we have to make an investment in the ability of the NWC to respond. The NWC had no standing capacity to respond as a utility if there was a break in the service to customers. So, we made a decision to allocate capital resources to buy these trucks,” he said.

Prime Minister said the trucks represent an Investment in the resilience of the water utility and its ability to respond to a shock.

“These trucks primarily will ensure that police stations, schools and other critical public service infrastructures if water were to be down, the NWC will be able to respond and provide water and keep the economy going,” Prime Minister Holness added.

In his greetings, Minister without Portfolio in the MEGJC, Sen. Hon. Matthew Samuda, noted that the issue of water security is not lost on the Government especially with the changing climate.

“Jamaica’s weather patterns have become particularly erratic. It has made it difficult for us to plan in terms of what our source supply will be from our water systems. But additionally one of the things that we have seen, certainly from the eastern end of the island is that because of the volume of work intended to bring prosperity to the people, during that work there is sometimes additional disruption to households and indeed businesses, this increased capacity will significantly allow us to be responsive to the needs of citizens and to the needs of businesses,” he said.

The NWC will be deploying the eight water trucks by the end of the week to its six regions: Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. Thomas; Clarendon and St. Catherine; St. Mary, St. Ann, and Portland; Manchester and St. Elizabeth; St. James and Trelawny; and Hanover and Westmoreland.