Water theft creating havoc in St Elizabeth, says NWC

The National Water Commission (NWC) is reporting that the wide-scale, persistent practice of illegally connecting to its potable water supply network is wreaking havoc on water distribution operations especially in several areas of St Elizabeth and is to be blamed for many of the water supply problems affecting the parish. 

The NWC said that while the dry, hot conditions have resulted in reduced water production, the major problem in St Elizabeth is the increase in the illegal abstraction of water from its pipe network.

Regional Manager for Manchester and St Elizabeth Assistant Vice President Jermaine Jackson argued that the primary problem is a shortage of water for agricultural purposes, not a shortage of potable water for domestic purposes.

Jackson contended that this indicates that most of the water supply systems in both parishes have in fact maintained their normal production outputs, despite the below normal rainfall.

According to him, so rampant and damaging is water theft in the region that NWC has to dedicate two days out of each week to conduct operations, with police support, to remove illegal connections from the network.

“Many of our customers near the end of our pipeline networks are unable to get water simply because other persons are stealing the water before it gets to them.

"For example, we are unable to get water to sections of Bull Savannah because of illegal connections in the area.

"Perhaps the biggest example of this problem is on the NWC’s Munro/Malvern Water Supply System. Entrenched illegal connections to the NWC network severely hamper efforts to supply water to Malvern, Munro, Hampton, Bethlehem, Belleview, Top Hill, Southfield, Seaview, Congo Hole, Yardley Chase, St. Marys, Portsea, Milksham, Red Bank, Top Flagaman and Round Hill," Jackson said. 

The NWC regional manager indicated that as a result of the extremely debilitating effects of the illegal connections, the NWC has to physically patrol the length of its 10” cross-country transmission pipeline 2-3 times per month with welding equipment and police security just to keep the pipeline functioning.

"Many of the approximately 20-30 illegal connections removed on each patrol are used to irrigate fields for legal and illegal farming purposes, a demand for which the potable water system was never designed, in any event," Jackson noted.

Jackson also points out that the constant trespass on the transmission pipeline is also threatening the integrity and life-span of that pipeline and others across the parish.

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