Efforts under way to restore water to St Elizabeth, says Green
Published:Wednesday | July 17, 2024 | 12:05 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
As restoration works continue in St Elizabeth following the devastation by Hurricane Beryl on July 3, Agriculture Minister Floyd Green says that efforts are under way for water supply to be restored to sections of the parish by having critical water pumps reconnected.
Speaking to The Gleaner on Sunday during an outreach initiative held at the Black River High School by the RJRGLEANER Communications Group to provide care packages to affected residents, Green said that collaboration is being held with the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to rectify the situation.
“On the water side, especially potable water, that is, one of the areas we have been working on significantly.” He shared that with the electricity network down, all the pumps – including irrigation pumps, were inoperable. “What we have been doing is trying to source generators to get them back up and running, and trying to work with JPS to prioritise the pumps,” said Green.
“The JPS has already connected the Dalintoder pump ... one of our biggest pumps in terms of the number of people it serves. We have gotten generators through the work of non-government organisations and private support for the Newell pump and the Hounslow pump. And we are doing a generator now through the National Irrigation Commission for the Beacon E pump so that we can start pumping irrigation water” Green explained. He noted that the work could start as early as Monday.
St Elizabeth was among the parishes hardest hit along with Clarendon and Manchester, when the category 4 storm passed near Jamaica’s south coast. The Ministry of Agriculture subsequently estimated that some 90 per cent of greenhouse farmers in those parishes were affected by the storm, along with up to 15 per cent of boats in the fisheries sector being damaged.
FARMERS RESILIENT
While noting that Jamaica’s vegetable lines would have been hardest impacted as a result of Beryl, Green insisted that the country’s farmers and fishers can recover once they receive adequate assistance. “What I have found is that our farmers and fishers are resilient. They do appreciate that they won’t be able to recoup all of their loss. But they want to be put in a position that they can get back out there and get back to planting, whether that means land preparation, land clearing, giving them some input like seeds or fertilisers, or helping to build back their greenhouses,” Green added. “We are going to outline a programme of support for farmers and fishers to get them back started again, and I’m going to go to Parliament on Tuesday to outline that programme.”
In the meantime, Kingsley Palmer, a member of the St Elizabeth Greenhouse Growers Association who lost tomatoes and sweet peppers during Hurricane Beryl, suggested that the Government should seek overseas assistance to help alleviate the needs of the farmers in the parish.
“I think the Government needs to intervene and ask for assistance from overseas agencies. You have international donors, and because the impact was so great, I don’t think the Government has the resources to adequately supply the needs of the farmers. Right now, I think they should be engaging in discussion with persons who are overseas,” Palmer told The Gleaner.