By Halshane Burke
The National Water Commission again had to carried out a major operation to disconnect illegal connections to its supply network St. Elizabeth, which it has singled out as one of the parishes with a high rate of water theft.
In a recent operation in southern St Elizabeth, the NWC says it discovered a total of eight illegal one to two inch connections to its 10 inch Malvern transmission pipeline.
The pipeline serves several areas including Malvern, Munro, Hampton, Belleview Housing Scheme, Top Hill, Southfield, Seaview, Red Bank and Barber Green.
Regional Manager Jermaine Jackson says during checks to a section of the pipeline, less than an hour after the initial operation, the team uncovered four newly made illegal connections.
Those, along with a cordless drill, four lengths of one inch pipeline, a pick axe, and a pipe wrench were removed.
Over 100 lengths of illegal pipelines were confiscated and one person was picked up by the Malvern police for questioning.
The NWC is urging people to get legally connected to the system and is reminding the public that water theft is a criminal offence that can lead to imprisonment.
Farmers in St. Elizabeth have been grappling with low levels of rainfall and drought conditions in recent years.
???????
The NWC says its Revenue team has been working to stem the practice of some farmers in the parish who are stealing and using water pumped for domestic use to water crops.
In light of this, the Commission says it is continuing efforts to thwart the actions of those who illegally connect to its network.
It says theft not only robs the company of much needed revenue but also interferes with the Commission's ability to provide legitimate customers with reliable water supply.
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
