Dear Editor,
Where is our prime minister? Why are Jamaicans being neglected? So many of us have been simply pushed aside and no one seems to care enough to do diddly squat.
There is no water and it is simply due to government negligence. Without doubt our leaders know by now that we have a period of drought followed by a period of rain every year. They know this, yet no preparation is made to avert the consequent water shortage.
I really don't believe the excuses. There is no reason we should be going through this agony of water shortage in Jamaica — the land of wood and water. There is already a shortage of jobs and now a shortage of water. I feel uncared for, to be honest.
I really don't believe the excuses. There is no reason we should be going through this agony of water shortage in Jamaica — the land of wood and water. There is already a shortage of jobs and now a shortage of water. I feel uncared for, to be honest.
The National Water Commission (NWC) has not been doing very well in getting water to all Jamaicans, and their failure to provide this life-sustaining liquid has had adverse effects on the livelihood of so many of us.
Living in rural St James has made me more aware of how much more work our water company needs to be doing in providing potable water to every household. In 21st century Jamaica, people still have to walk long distances to the nearest standpipe or fetch water seeping out of holes for household use -- a situation which so many people across the island are living through.
It is a grave injustice, and only by divine intervention are we surviving, because if it doesn't rain, or there isn't a nearby river, the suffering from the lack of piped water would be catastrophic.
I recently read an article on Yahoo News entitled 'Water everywhere for DR Congo city yet scarcely a drop to drink'. It is about a water shortage situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the African Great Lakes region of Central Africa where residents of Goma, a city which sits by one of the world's largest freshwater reservoirs and has some of Africa's heaviest annual rainfall yet the people are suffering from shortage of water. Imagine that!
"Most of the city's one million residents, living close to the shores of Lake Kivu, have to struggle every day to fetch water home." It was an austere reflection of our current distress in Jamaica and how much poor governance can wreak havoc on a people. The people of the DR Congo, like us, deserve better. Sir, it is not a case of a lack of water, but simply a lack of foresight and care on the part of our Government to properly distribute potable water and methodically maintain stable water supply to the public. Stability just seems more and more dubious in our country. Furthermore, with the seemingly tight fiscal space in which the NWC seems to be operating, it will be no surprise if the Government should announce that they are forming a committee to oversee NWC's divestment sooner than later.
The NWC has been failing to fulfill its core function which is to provide water to the public. Historically speaking, or should I say hysterically, when a state-owned entity becomes financially strapped, the Government fervently seeks to get rid of it, and I fear our water company is steering down the barrel of divestment. That outcome would not be a common assault on Jamaica. This level of national water shortage really shouldn't be happening and I think it is a clear demonstration of how shoddily our nation is being governed.
Derville Lowe
Montego Bay, St James
drvlllowe@yahoo.com
DR Congo and Jamaica in same bath pan
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Where is our prime minister? Why are Jamaicans being neglected? So many of us have been simply pushed aside and no one seems to care enough to do diddly squat.
There is no water and it is simply due to government negligence. Without doubt our leaders know by now that we have a period of drought followed by a period of rain every year. They know this, yet no preparation is made to avert the consequent water shortage.
I really don't believe the excuses. There is no reason we should be going through this agony of water shortage in Jamaica — the land of wood and water. There is already a shortage of jobs and now a shortage of water. I feel uncared for, to be honest.
I really don't believe the excuses. There is no reason we should be going through this agony of water shortage in Jamaica — the land of wood and water. There is already a shortage of jobs and now a shortage of water. I feel uncared for, to be honest.
The National Water Commission (NWC) has not been doing very well in getting water to all Jamaicans, and their failure to provide this life-sustaining liquid has had adverse effects on the livelihood of so many of us.
Living in rural St James has made me more aware of how much more work our water company needs to be doing in providing potable water to every household. In 21st century Jamaica, people still have to walk long distances to the nearest standpipe or fetch water seeping out of holes for household use -- a situation which so many people across the island are living through.
It is a grave injustice, and only by divine intervention are we surviving, because if it doesn't rain, or there isn't a nearby river, the suffering from the lack of piped water would be catastrophic.
I recently read an article on Yahoo News entitled 'Water everywhere for DR Congo city yet scarcely a drop to drink'. It is about a water shortage situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the African Great Lakes region of Central Africa where residents of Goma, a city which sits by one of the world's largest freshwater reservoirs and has some of Africa's heaviest annual rainfall yet the people are suffering from shortage of water. Imagine that!
"Most of the city's one million residents, living close to the shores of Lake Kivu, have to struggle every day to fetch water home." It was an austere reflection of our current distress in Jamaica and how much poor governance can wreak havoc on a people. The people of the DR Congo, like us, deserve better. Sir, it is not a case of a lack of water, but simply a lack of foresight and care on the part of our Government to properly distribute potable water and methodically maintain stable water supply to the public. Stability just seems more and more dubious in our country. Furthermore, with the seemingly tight fiscal space in which the NWC seems to be operating, it will be no surprise if the Government should announce that they are forming a committee to oversee NWC's divestment sooner than later.
The NWC has been failing to fulfill its core function which is to provide water to the public. Historically speaking, or should I say hysterically, when a state-owned entity becomes financially strapped, the Government fervently seeks to get rid of it, and I fear our water company is steering down the barrel of divestment. That outcome would not be a common assault on Jamaica. This level of national water shortage really shouldn't be happening and I think it is a clear demonstration of how shoddily our nation is being governed.
Derville Lowe
Montego Bay, St James
drvlllowe@yahoo.com
DR Congo and Jamaica in same bath pan
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