Quashie Gap
Published:Monday | November 24, 2014 | 11:55 AMChad Bryan
Residents of Quashie Gap and surrounding communities in east rural St Andrew have suffered from an intermittent supply of water for a number of months.
On a recent visit by The Gleaner to the area, residents revealed that for months they have not received water, which is pumped from the pump house at Content Gap, a neighbouring community.
They said when the water supply eventually does come from Clydesdale, it is there for a few days and gone again. Some residents have obtained water tanks to help combat the water woes.
“Some people get water Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. We here get water once per week. They say the water is coming from Clydesdale; they have to feed the people around that side so they do it section by section. Most of the people have tanks,” said Maxine Williams, who has resided in the Quashie Gap community for 14 years.
A gardener of 26 years at a property in Quashie Gap also lamented the water issues the community is facing.
“Now and again we get a little water. The water system rough up here. Sometimes we have to pray for rain to fall. We are out of water often. All at my house, over two or three months now I don’t get a little water,” the man who requested anonymity, stated.
At the Content Gap pump house, a resident said the water issue facing Salt Hill and Quashie Gap, among other areas, was because of the size of the pipes through which the water flows.
“The source of the water is adequate but the size pipe used to bring the water here is inadequate. They had two inches of water from the head or the source of the water and increased it to six inches and when they came here they took off four inches to go to Mavis Bank, that’s not good engineering,” Noel Small, reasoned.
This was also supported by the National Water Commission’s (NWC) pump house operator for that area.
“The piping is the issue. If you try to force it you are going to have burst pipes. You cannot have water every day. You have to have a tank. If you get water today [Tuesday] you are not getting until Saturday,” the NWC pump operator explained.