Planters Hall calls for end to decades-old water crisis
Published:Saturday | January 30, 2021 | 12:14 AMRasbert Turner/Gleaner Writer
Facing a triple threat of lack of employment, no water and the general ill-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on several areas of life, the residents of Planters Hall and its environs in St Catherine are at their wits’ end.
“We have to buy water at $500 per drum from the truck and that is our main concern up here,” Steve Harvey shared as The Gleaner visited the area recently.
“We a buy water for about 20 years now and it is a sad situation,” he continued. “We feel as if we are left to the mercy of rainfall ... and it’s not getting any better.”
And even with fading hopes of rain any time soon, the residents of the predominantly farming community are also dealing with irregular trucking service, putting them on edge time after time as they await the delivery of the commodity.
“We are mostly dependent on short cash crops. We suffer more now, as there is hardly any water to supply the plants,” lamented Diana Rhule, a shopkeeper. “We need proper supply so that we can sustain ourselves. We are hit heavily as even businesses are closed as the money have to be used to buy water.”
Their repeated dry cries have fallen on deaf ears, the residents say.
“This is wicked as there are pipes here that usually have water, but long time now is only dust you’ll get from it. This needs to be addressed like now,” said Margaret Talbert.
As the Gleaner team toured the area, scores of empty drums bore testament to the struggles the residents are facing.
“See it deh. A dat mi mean when mi talk bout di truck. We need a permanent fix up here,” a resident said, pointing to a passing water truck.
“A pure promise we a get for a number of years,we need to get the water supply up and running,” Melissa Deer said.
Despite a quadruple murder rocking the community last month – and two teens from the community charged for the bloodbath – the residents maintained that Planters Hall is still a peaceful farming community, which can achieve its potential with a reliable water supply to tend to their cash crops.
“If the area gets a regular water supply, the community to be more productive,” one resident concluded.
When The Gleaner visited the nearby Bois Content, the pumping station was overgrown in parts and water trickled to waste.