Residents of Fairfield, St Elizabeth, get water shop

Residents of Fairfield district in St Elizabeth are benefiting from a $12-million water shop, commissioned into service by Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie, on August 21.

The facility will provide up to 16,000 gallons of potable water daily to some 1,000 residents in Fairfield and surrounding areas. It comes equipped with the technologies to filter and purify the drinking water.

This water shop brings to four the number of such facilities commissioned in St Elizabeth.

The others are located in the Retirement district of Malvern, built at a cost of $9.7 million; Tryall district in Junction, built at a cost of $11.9 million; and Top Hill in Southfield, erected at a cost of $8.9 million.

“This is not the answer to the problems of bringing potable water to residents, especially in a parish like St Elizabeth, but truth be told, this is the most comprehensive approach to the water crisis that has ever been undertaken by any Government since 2016,” McKenzie said.

He noted that funds are to be provided for the procurement of a second water truck to help address the water crisis in sections of the parish, adding that a unit was previously purchased for $15 million.

“We have also been providing funding, not just in St Elizabeth but for other municipalities that require money for the trucking of water,” McKenzie said.

“I am proud that I’m part of an administration that continues to remember those who need extra assistance, extra push, and St Elizabeth is a parish that is important to the economic life of the country, because it is what is considered as the breadbasket,” the minister added.

For Fairfield resident Janique Witter, the facility has brought newfound convenience and relief to residents, eliminating the need to purchase water from supermarkets or rely on costly water truck deliveries.

Before the provision of the water shops, residents had to travel to Cheapside to pull from a well or purchase water at $2,000 a drum from water trucks, Witter shared.

“Now we don’t have to pay for water any more for drinking purposes. Minister, thank you so much for this opportunity. I can get fresh water. I can come and fill my bottles and get my water,” she said.