Hayles criticises gov't plan to alleviate water crisis out west

 

Shadow Minister on Water, Ian Hayles, is criticising the government's Water Infrastructure Plan to alleviate the water crisis in Hanover and Westmoreland.

 

He argues that long-term planning and sustainable solutions are needed to meet the increasing water demands. 

 

Minister with responsibility for water Matthew Samuda says an additional $25 million has been allocated for the next six weeks to facilitate trucking of water in the two neighbouring parishes.

 

Additionally, Mr. Samuda says funds have been identified to purchase 2,000 black water tanks for citizens in Hanover and Westmoreland who are most in need.

 

But Mr. Hayles, while acknowledging the commendable effort of any investment in water infrastructure, contends that the government's approach is short-sighted and ultimately insufficient:

 

"It's not that we don't have the water in Westmoreland, we have the water in Westmoreland. And before I go further, the Rapid Response Unit that used to deal with critical situation of drought as we are now faced with in Westmoreland, it was under the Jamaica Labour Party government that it was disbanded...and this has put us in a situation where we are at the mercy of contractors that truck water," he argued. 

 

Mr. Hayles has proposed a comprehensive plan to channel water from two of the rivers in two parishes, creating multiple pipelines extending into various communities. 

 

"What we need to do in Westmoreland is to take the water from the Cabarita River, take what we can from the Roaring River, which is around 20 million [gallons] in both places every single day, and ensure that the people of Westmoreland can get water and for future development," he suggested, adding that "The bag of talk and the running around on government helicopter, [is] not going to solve the problem".