Thank you NWC, but sustainable action needed

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Following the publication of my letter ‘NWC disgrace’ on Wednesday, August 14 by The Gleaner, it is heartening to see that a new gate was installed at the NWC facility, persons were seasonally employed to de-bush the area, and there was tremendous improvement in the landscape of the public water facility. However, the larger issue is, how will this be sustained?

A review of the physical facility and operations portfolio on the NWC’s website highlighted that the main facilities include: The Mona Reservoir, Hermitage Dam, Constant Spring and the Hope Filter Plant. However, it was difficult to find information on the maintenance plan (if any) for these facilities. As a consequence, I am hereby calling on the distinguished ladies and gentlemen on the board of the National Water Commission to make public its audits of these facilities, with specific reference to maintenance schedules and who has oversight for the maintenance portfolio.

Greater collaboration is needed by the NWC with universities in close proximity to some of these facilities, such as UTech, Jamaica and The University of the West Indies, Mona, as well as other agencies to ensure that there is technological monitoring of these sites, so that pro-active measures are taken to prevent breakdown. In attempting to learn more about these technologies, I turned to AI and got the following assistance.

“AI lets water managers leverage data to monitor quality, track usage, and identify potential infrastructure problems in water systems. Ideally, managers can leverage the insight they gain to detect and remediate issues before they become crises. May 3, 2024.”

JOAN FRANCIS