Rio Cobre the only option
Published:Friday | May 24, 2019 | 12:12 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has spoken strongly about the Rio Cobre supplying water to the Corporate Area and Portmore as the next best option to alleviate the water crises. We are waiting with bated breath to see this project reaching fruition. It is a good option and it is one of the only ways we can procure the best water supply for the two most populous areas. The water crisis is really getting out of hand and we have no alternative than to harvest rain water and try other means of ensuring that we have adequate supply of the scare commodity.
We are now gasping for breath with the miniscule amount of water we have at our disposal in our major dams. The Rio Cobre, with its never ending supply of fresh water, will have a marked drop in water levels in future due to the project.
This could not be the country which goes by the moniker ‘Land of Wood and Water’. We are being threatened by the agents of nature to supply the people with this commodity considered to be simply ‘life’. What can we do as ordinary citizens to ensure that we are not short-changed by the relevant authority? Are we going to depend on governmental largesse to live when we can have other means of survival? When will we stop depending on government to supply us with this commodity for us to revive our lives? Can’t we harvest water for ourselves?
We have to be creative, stop wasting water and use it to do the most important things. Use dirty water to water your gardens and make sure you are being honest to your neighbours when you are using the scare commodity. Remember the water you waste today, you will need tomorrow. Water management should be on the forefront in your minds. Although we are in the rainy month of May, we are still suffering badly from the chronic shortage of the commodity. We need some good catchment area to get water from; that is why we should not pollute the aquifer by creating arbitrary burial sites.
PARIS TAYLOR
Greater Portmore