Businesses Including Fast Food Restaurants Impacted by Water Crisis

The worsening water crisis the country is currently encountering has been impacting several business places, including fast-food restaurants in the Corporate Area.

Rosemaria Reid, a cosmetologist who operates in Mall Plaza on Constant Spring Road, St Andrew, noted that her colleagues and clients were worried as they braced for upcoming water restrictions.

"On Saturday, I couldn't go to work because there was no water. I had to turn back clients because there was no way we could operate under that condition. It was that bad," she declared.

"Currently, myself and the other ladies (cosmetologists) are paying $5,000 to fill the tanks or we have to carry water from our homes. This has been happening for about three weeks now and it is worrying. Last year, it was the same thing but this year (it) seems to be getting worse," she said.

Reid added, "It is normally a busy time for us, but if this continues, we are worried that it will affect our earning badly. As we speak, there is no water in the bathroom."

A supervisor at a popular fast-food restaurant in the city, who did not want to be named, echoed similar sentiments, noting that they were impacted badly.

"When evening time come, mi start fret because there is no water to wash the utensils and other things that we use. When the water does come, it not even half the tank so we are definitely feeling the pinch," the supervisor told The Gleaner.

"It is a rough time for us and when it comes to food, you have to be very careful, so we have to be trying all we can to ensure that we have enough to keep afloat. It's not easy though."

Robert Pickersgill, minister of water, land, environment and climate change, yesterday told a press conference that the country will have to brace for more water restrictions.

The National Water Commission is also reporting that two main water-storage facilities in the Corporate Area are now below 50 per cent of their capacity at a time when they are usually full.