Water restored to 85% of NWC customers

 

The National Water Commission (NWC) has restored water supply to 85% of its customer base.

 

This was revealed by Commander Alvin Gayle, Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), at Wednesday's post-cabinet press briefing. 

 

"The majority of systems in all parishes are back online, and with the support of the 12 additional water trucks operating in the affected communities, they are able to deliver over 146,000 gallons of water to affected communities. What this has enabled is that over 60% of remittancy agencies within the worst affected parishes are operational. In St. Elizabeth, over 69%. In Westmoreland, over 85%, Hanover 83%, St. James 67%, and Trelawny 73%. Work continues to restore utilities and critical services," he outlined. 

 

In the meantime, the National Water Commission is warning that some customers now experiencing disruptions in their regular supply may not receive the commodity until next February, when the Jamaica Public Service Company is expected to complete its power restoration efforts. 

 

Speaking Wednesday morning on TVJ Smile Jamaica, NWC's Acting Public Relations Manager Delano Williams explained that electricity is essential for pumping water from the commission's facilities into customers' pipelines. 

 

Mr. Williams noted that the NWC has so far restored service to 63% of customers in the worst affected parishes of Hanover, Westmoreland, St. James, Trelawny, and St. Elizabeth.

 

He said the commission continues to maintain access to water by operating generators at key facilities and trucking the commodity to communities in need.

 

Mr. Williams added that the NWC also plans to outfit more of its facilities with generators to strengthen resilience during future power outages.

 

"Currently, we have, I think, over 60 pumps that have access or are running on generators. For instance, most of the 15,000 customers in St. Elizabeth today are being served by backup generators," he noted.