Cornwall Court misery

Western Bureau:

The close to 16,000 residents of Cornwall Court in Montego Bay, St James, were up to yesterday still hopping mad as they have faced misery over the past two weeks, struggling to survive without water and with a pile-up of uncollected garbage.

“No water for two weeks, and we say water is life; what kind of life is this? [And] garbage is piling up in the community,” said John Smith. “I have been living here for 23 years, and I have never seen this amount of misery at any one time.

“I feel like if I could get a buyer, I would just sell my house and find somewhere else to live.

“Can you imagine having small children at home and not having water to bathe, cook and wash your clothes for two weeks? This is disgraceful, and at this time no excuse is acceptable.”

The National Water Commission (NWC) is blaming the water woes on a damaged pump at its nearby Catherine Mount system.

On Saturday, Delano Williams, the acting corporate public relations manager at the NWC, released a video statement to residents, saying the damaged pump, which is responsible for the water issue, was repair and was being reinstalled.

“For the past few days, we had some challenges at the plant (Catherine Mount), but we are happy to report to you that, as we speak today, Saturday, August 2, our teams are now reinstalling the pumping equipment to restore water supplies to your communities,” he said, intimating that the water woes were poised to end.

“Again, we want to thank you for your extended patience. We know it could be or has been quite challenging over this holiday period, but we hope that this restoration will help you to get back on track.”

However, the Cornwall Court community WhatsApp group chat was flooded with angry comments on Sunday morning as residents woke up to find that they were still without water, leaving those without the ability to buy trucked water unable of take care of their domestic chores.

Heroy Clarke, the member of parliament for St James Central, where Cornwall Court is located, and who is a member of the community’s WhatsApp group, stated in a post on Saturday that he had been in regular contact with the NWC and that he was given an assurance that water would be restored before the day was out. However, he also stated that unscrupulous persons were tampering with the system.

VALVES BEING TAMPERED WITH

“Someone is tampering with the valve that controls the water into Cornwall Court and other sensitive areas,” wrote Clarke, who said a representative of the NWC discovered on Saturday that water was being diverted from one tank to another without authorisation.

“It is a sad day when we have members who are willing to allow their neighbours to suffer because of their blind ulterior motives.”

While many residents are worried that they will be out of water for the remainder of the holiday period, others, those who can afford it, have been forced to buy water from trucks, which have been popping up in the community. The water is being sold from as low as J$3,500 for 200 gallons to as high as J$12,500 per 1,000 gallons.

In relation to garbage collection, residents in some sections of the community said they have not seen a garbage truck in weeks and are now being overwhelmed by the stench from the uncollected garbage and flies. On Saturday, Clarke said he was seeking to have dialogue with the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and asked the affected residents to make contact.

“I am presently trying to locate somebody from the NSWMA office for them to give me an update as it relates to the collection of garbage,” Clarke wrote in a WhatsApp post. “I would happily ask that persons indicate as to which of the streets in the community of Cornwall Court that garbage has not been collected, so that I can indicate exactly where they (NSWMA) should go.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com