Ministry keeps eye on water as schools reopen

The Government said it is moving to distribute water tanks to schools across the island as the nation continues to be grapple with the effects of an ongoing drought.

The assurance was given yesterday by Karl Samuda, the minister overseeing the education ministry, and Senator Pearnel Charles Jr, who has responsibility for water.

In addition, representatives from the Ministry of Education are planning to meet with the National Water Commission today to discuss preparations for the new school year.

“We want to make a special appeal that they pay particular attention to our schools because one can immediately understand the chaos that takes place when a school is without water,” Samuda said yesterday. “What I would like to reach out to the Water Commission to advise them is that we don’t want that kind of sporadic supply of water for the schools. We want continuous water supplies so that there is no interruption, and that is something that we are going to be monitoring and insisting on.”

Acting permanent secretary in the education ministry, Dr Grace McLean, said that the main focus for the ministry is ensuring that there is adequate water to ensure that schools will not have to dismiss early or operate for three days per week due to scarcity of the commodity.

She said the National Education Trust has been working with the private sector to deliver tanks and over 100 tanks have been delivered so far to schools.

“Recall, however, that over the last couple of years, we have been experiencing drought-like conditions, and so from as far back as 2014/2015, we provided most of the schools across the island with tanks. So what we have been doing now is replace where those have become faulty and to repair where it is necessary,” she said.

Charles Jr, in a statement to the media, assured that he has met with all water-related agencies to reinforce the importance of ensuring measures are in place to provide water to all schools and more specifically, those in drought-affected areas for the approaching school year.

The following steps are being taken to ensure the availability of water in all schools:

• The National Water Commission is engaging principals for the schools that have been affected by the drought as well as those schools which are in areas where there are disruptions in the water supply to make arrangements to provide trucked water.

• The National Water Commission will truck water to all schools – those affected by the drought and those that have a regular piped water supply. In this regard, all water storage facilities will be filled.

• We are aware that some schools face challenges in terms of storage and so the NWC has assisted, by donating tanks to provide additional storage for those institutions that are in need. Two of these schools include Haile Selassie and Cedar Grove High.

• The National Water Commission has also carried out pipeline infrastructure upgrade in St. James which will result in an improved supply to Anchovy High School in the parish.

• NWC representatives have been assigned to maintain contact with school administrators to monitor water distribution in schools. Administrators may contact the NWC toll-free 888-225-5692 for assistance.

• In addition to works being done by the NWC, the Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL) has constructed Rainwater Harvesting infrastructure and storage tanks at multiple schools across the island ahead of the start of the new term. This will ensure increased access to water for schools as we enter into the rainy season and should provide some reprieve, especially for rural-based schools.