MANDEVILLE, Manchester:
WATER WOES now being experienced by residents in Mandeville and adjoining communities, are to be solved soon when new pumps are put in service at the Pepper well in St. Elizabeth, according to Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
The Pepper well at the foot of Spur Tree Hill serves the Greater Mandeville water supply scheme from which some 20 communities receive their water supply and from which the Manchester Parish Council gets water to truck to drought-stricken areas.
Prime Minister Patterson, who was speaking at a Live-and-Direct meeting with residents of Manchester in Mandeville last Wednesday, said new pumps are slated to be installed at the Pepper Pumping Station and also a stand-by pump will be in place should a main pump failure occur.
For years residents have been complaining of the unreliability of their water supply from the Pepper well which the National Water Commission (NWC) blamed on pump failure due to electrical failures. As a result, pumps were out of service for months undergoing repairs while the pipes of its customers remained dry. Water lock-offs have become more frequent in the town since January, leading to Mayor of Mandeville, Councillor Haris Williams, declaring during a recent Parish Council meeting that "he is fed up with the NWC which always comes up with the same excuses" why there is no water in the town.
