‘The situation is unbearable’

Residents of Cuffies Pen and surrounding districts in Lacovia, St Elizabeth, have not had water running in their pipes for more than seven years and are now fed up with having to live without the precious commodity.

According to the them, their member of parliament, J.C. Hutchinson, has abandoned them and, along with the National Water Commission (NWC), has failed to addressed their plight, despite their pleas over the years.

Now with the coronavirus spreading in the parish, the need for proper sanitation and hygiene has compounded the problem even more, according to some residents who spoke to The Gleaner.

“We are having a lot of problems, especially with our children who are usually late for school because they have to walk miles to get potable water, and some have to go to the river to bathe, which poses extreme dangers for them,” said Veronica Sohan, a teacher who lives in the Cuffies Pen district.

“Right now I have construction going on at my house and it is proving very difficult for me financially, in that I have to find money to buy water for this purpose, as well as for domestic use.”

Sohan revealed that even to take a bath, she has to be conservative, because of the high cost associated with buying the water to satisfy her needs.

“Mi have to bathe in one little bath pan. You know how long mi nuh get a nice little ‘fresh’?,” she said with a chuckle.

“One full tank cost me $6,000, and with six people in my household, we use about three tanks per month,” she added.

Lascelles Stewart, a farmer who also lives in Cuffies Pen, said the situation is unbearable and it’s time something is done to ease the pressure.

“We get a lot of promises but nothing happens. We have to try and get little water in the night from the standpipes, but sometimes nothing. Dem tell we sey the pipeline too small and a that a cause the problem,” he said.

Stewart added that he is not able to wash his clothes and bed linens frequently, or even take a decent shower, and this is an issue for him given his propensity for proper hygiene and sanitation.

Sharlene Alicia Johnson of neighbouring Cornwall district was walking some eight miles from her home with two water bottles in her hands to get drinking water when The Gleaner caught up with her. She was clearly peeved about the long-standing water crisis, highlighting hygiene and sanitation issues as her main concerns.

“We have to build tanks for those of us who can afford it, and you know the sanitation is poor, especially when there is no rain for a long time to fill the tanks, bacteria is formed because the tanks cannot be sanitised properly, so we are exposed to sickness and bacteria,” she stated.

“With this COVID virus out there we should not have to do without running water,” she noted, while expressing concerns about lockdown and the inevitable consequences from not having running water.

MP Hutchinson said he is aware of some issues with water in not only Cuffies Pen, but other adjoining communities, and efforts have been made to get water to the residents on a consistent basis.

“The issue has to do with the new developments that are currently springing up in the Lacovia and Burnt Savannah areas, which have placed greater demand on the present system that was not built to accommodate this additional demand,” Hutchinson told The Gleaner.

“This can only be solved by the NWC upgrading the present system, to increase the flow into Cuffies Pen and other communities. In the meantime, I have ensured that water goes into the standpipes in the areas for the residents to get water,” he said.