‘Living at the back of the world’
Sandy River water woes have no end in sight
LIVING AT the back of the world is how residents in Sandy River in northern Clarendon describe their water woes. Residents bemoan that they have been forced to live without the commodity for decades and are demanding some redress to the situation.
Sandy River business owner and community activist Janesses Humphrey argued, “People carrying water on their heads and on donkeys, and this is civilised time – we don’t need this.”
She added: “I would like if the situation can be changed or resolved so we can live like normal human beings, because it’s unfair to us. It’s like we are living in the back of the world, and in most rural areas you still have water.”
Humphrey told The Gleaner that the water situation has adversely affected her business, especially during the COVID19 pandemic. She also cited financial strains on her family, as she is forced to buy water for her household and business.
“Water is vital and every day people need water, and we shouldn’t have to be going through all of this,” she said.
LIMITED ACCESS
The residents told The Gleaner that the construction of a pump house in Sandy River some six years ago signalled what they believed was the end of their water woes. Unfortunately, however, they are only getting water from said source on an intermittent basis, which is only accessible from a standpipe at the structure.
A resident, Novadine Humphrey, said,“I felt good when this thing was constructed here. Why I felt good is that I believed, in myself, that [water] would come in our homes, we would have water in our kitchen, in our bathroom and all that stuff. We are struggling, we need water in our homes and our pipes so we can be more comfortable.”
Another resident, who asked not to be named, described the pump house as a waste of resources. “It leak, so it nuh make sense. The tank is structured, but not properly structured. It a leak right now, and the residents need water at them home now ... a full time. It’s just like it nuh make nuh sense it’s there. The system need fe upgrade make residents get them water, and things get official. Politicians come in, make them promises and them nuh fulfil (them) over the years,” he said.
Similar sentiments regarding the efficacy of the structure were shared by Janiel Blackwin, who bemoaned that her family has to pay to pump water from the river, or to have people full their tanks. “It has been a challenge, and still is, regardless of the system that they set up, because the water is coming from Bull Head Mountain, not from the tank here. Sometimes it’s overcrowded, so there’s chaos; so sometimes you don’t get adequate amount,” she said.
The facility serves several communities, including Mason River, Douglas Castle, Rhoden Hall and Reckford, near the Bull Head Mountain.
EXPOSED TO CONTAMINATION
Deleta Lawrence, who lives in Reckford, l amented that an underground source, the community’s only source of drinking water, is exposed to contamination. She said several appeals made to political representatives over the years to erect a structure over the source to deter pollution have fallen on deaf ears.
Lawrence contested that the community is at a disadvantage and is forced to go without drinking water when it rains, as the source becomes contaminated with debris. She expressed, however, that the district is grateful for a waterfall that runs downstream from the mountains, where residents take showers. After decades without the commodity, the 40-year-old still harbours hopes of having piped water in her home soon.
Meanwhile, Delano Williams, National Water Commission’s community relations manager for the eastern division, has indicated that their teams are working in collaboration with Rural Water Supply Limited to commission a tank at Staceyville in the area, and a pipeline network to resolve the water challenges.
“We are now undertaking (the) sterilisation of the infrastructure and will commence engagement of residents, so application process can commence by mid-December,” Williams told The Gleaner.
Attempts to get a comment from Dwight Sibblies, member of parliament for Clarendon Northern, were unsuccessful.