THE EDITOR, Sir:
THIS IS to clarify the matter concerning disruption in water supply to the Balaclava area of St. Elizabeth, as outlined in the article published in the March 12 issue of The Gleaner.
Firstly, we would like to state that the National Water Commission (NWC) pumping station that supplies the Balaclava Division is the Union Pumping Station. Secondly, contrary to the report made at the St. Elizabeth Parish Council monthly meeting, the Union Pumping Station has not been having frequent breakdowns.
As customers in the Central Region of the NWC are aware, pumps are the main means by which water is distributed. Consequently, there is heavy reliance on the services of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo.) Limited for power to operate these pumps. The councillors and other staff of the parish council and indeed, residents throughout the entire parish can verify that the past few weeks have seen an increase in power outages and incidents of low voltage.
In fact, our records showing the number of downtime hours at the Union Station due to power failures reveal that in January, this amounted to 16 hours, while in February, a total of 64 hours of downtime was recorded! The disruptions in water supply during this period to the areas served by this pump were, therefore, clearly beyond the NWC's control.
I am, etc.,
KAREN BROWN
NWC Community Relations Officer
