Local Chinese group donates water tanks to SE St Ann

WESTERN BUREAU:

The water woes of approximately 3,000 residents of communities surrounding Claremont and Moneague in South East St Ann are on the verge of coming to an end, thanks to a generous donation of four industrial water tanks from the Jamaican Chinese community that will provide 40, 000 gallons of water.

Lisa Hanna, the member of parliament for South East St Ann, said the people of her constituency are in critically need of a reliable and sustainable water source, and this initiative of installing water tanks to provide the community with water is a kick-start to arrest the problem.

“This is a wonderful day for the people of South East St Ann. As you know, in deep rural communities we have a problem with accessing water, and over some 40 per cent of persons who live in South East St Ann don’t have access to water,” Hanna said after receiving the four water tanks on behalf of the people of the constituency from the Jamaican Chinese community.

Yangsen Li, vice-president of Fujan Association of Jamaica and a member of the Jamaica Chinese community, said the Chinese were happy to assist the people of Jamaica at the first opportunity.

“Water is life, [and] living without water is very difficult,” Li said during Saturday’s handover ceremony of the tanks.

“People from some critical areas (in St Ann) are suffering from the lack of water for a long time and we hope these water tanks can help to get [a relief] from the hard situation,” he continued.

The MP said many people in rural areas don’t have the ability to even carry the water to their homes, and the National Water Commission is not spending the kind of capital to put in the infrastructure in areas that are far-flung.

Hanna also said residents would be encouraged to establish a community group, manage, and to help pay for the trucking of water for the tanks.

“Two communities, one in Claremont and one in Moneague, will be receiving tanks and we hope to provide the piping and then try and provide a situation, where the community themselves are able to provide the water,” she disclosed.

“These four water tanks can hold up to 40, 000 gallons of water,” Hanna added. “When I looked at the research globally China was the country that I saw producing these types of tanks, (and so) we reached out to the Chinese. They were very kind, they came on board and brought them in.”

“As a member of the Chinese community I feel proud. Chinese are social agents, and we always say ‘yes’ when we see the local community in need of help,” Li said.

Romaine Thomas, a resident from Moneague, said the people of Back-a-Bush and other communities were delighted with knowing that they now have access to potable water.

“The community, especially Back-a-Bush, has been experiencing water challenges for quite a while because NWC is not reaching the community. The residents are anxious, they are quite happy to be getting running water,” Thomas said.

“They have suffered, so this will be a big boost for them, especially the poor farmers in the area, now that the drought period is coming on,” said Ricardo Riley, an engineer who lives in Claremont.

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