Cow ticks and the pursuit of water

THE effects of climate change have ravaged St Ann South Eastern (SESA). Driving across its hilly terrain, your eyes will see large wayside concrete tanks across many communities. Often designed with a large, slanted downward concrete slab off a hill that slopes into a large tank at the bottom, they were used to harness rainwater run-off. Their maintenance is the responsibility of the parish council for areas that were not equipped with pipes.

Today, many of these tanks lay idle due to climate change and drought. Moreover, the parish council does not have the means to consistently truck water to the tanks.

Not only are droughts more frequent, but they also last longer, making the daily reality for residents, schools, and farmers uncomfortable.

As a Member of Parliament, if the National Water Commission (NWC) does not have a truck, when the people are in dire need, I have to personally pay for water trucking, which costs up to $50,000 per load.

As the largest constituency, individual water trucking to communities is unsustainable.

Over the years I have invited various ministers of water to tour the constituency to find solutions. Finally, in March 2019, projects for upgraded water systems were approved with the capital budgetary allocations in the estimates of expenditure and announced during the Standing Finance Committee by the then minister with responsibility for water, Karl Samuda.

The areas to be upgraded: Moneague to Walkerswood, $125 million; Claremont to Higgin Town (harnessing the Green Park Well), $510 million; Thatch Hill, $80 million; Mcnie, $35 million; New Ground, $10 million; and New Hope, $25 million. Up until last year, none of these projects had been completed.

As a matter of fact, in August 2020 the NWC began laying pipes from Higgin Town to Claremont and stopped a few weeks later. So, after numerous calls to subsequent ministers of water, and the then-head of the NWC without help, I invited Minister Matthew Samuda, the NWC, the Water Resources Authority (WRA), and Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL) last week to tour sections of Bensonton and Claremont to address the scarcity of water and request the completion of a few of the projects that have been languishing.

Samuda agreed and instructed the NWC to lay the additional infrastructure to give water to Higgin Town, Mcnie, and Camperdown; and distribute 1,000 water tanks throughout the communities.

I also requested the minister and his team to tour one water well owned by Windalco, now UC Rusal, up in Alderton, access to which could help hundreds of residents and farmers.

Decades ago, these bauxite companies dug and cast their wells, which aided their operations, their employees who lived in the areas, and watered their cattle in the field.

These wells still exist; however, they are still owned by these transnational corporations. As such, residents don’t have access to them, nor can the NWC harness them without permission.

As we all went in search on foot — the minister, myself, the teams that accompanied him, and community members — to find one of these wells in Alderton we had to cross a cow pasture, walking for at least a mile. Along the way, we saw the four-inch metal pipes that lined the area, obviously leading to the well. We walked a good distance and then I started to scratch. By that time it was too late.

My pants and ankles were infested with cow ticks. I requested that we stop and the NWC send a drone later to find the well’s location. Needless to say, the proceeding days were not pleasant for me. Still, alas, my efforts were not in vain, as Minister Samuda agreed to partner with bauxite companies to conduct a study of their properties in the constituency to determine the availability of water wells in the areas and the Government’s ability to harness them to help the people.

I have said it before, and will repeat it: Access to water is a right of every citizen.

No Government is without blame, but we cannot continue to pay lip service to this crucial issue.

Even though the water may not be free, as there are costs to someone to install it, this can quickly be done by the Government paying for the water extracted. This is a perfect opportunity for a public-private partnership to develop our water resources.

Issues such as access to water for all Jamaicans need to be given priority in Government expenditure. Critical issues must receive critical attention. It has been frustrating for me as a representative of the people to see how long it has taken water projects to receive budgets while people continue to suffer.

In his recent budget presentation last week, the prime minister spoke of a 70-year-old woman saying that she is now too old to carry water. Let’s run a country in which no one is expected to carry water, at any age. We can do it if we focus, put politics aside, and instead prioritise meeting our people’s basic needs.