Dear Editor,

I am happy to hear the announcement by Minister Horace Chang about plans to improve the water supply into Mandeville. Suffice it to say, I will be watching like a hawk to make sure that this happens, as Mandeville and the surrounding areas have suffered from such a poor water supply for so long.

It is a national disgrace that during the long period that the PNP were in government and indeed, that Central Manchester was represented by PNP MPs, no expansion to the existing water supply was put into the town. If the PNP government had been wise enough to provide an adequate water supply, Mandeville and the farming areas to the north and south would have benefited from great farmers and would have entered the arena for new investment other than the bauxite industry. It is as though we were always to be satisfied with bauxite and never to be granted any more!

For without water, there is no life. Without water there is no hope of anyone wanting to open new factories, build hotels and housing schemes, or for Mandeville to promote itself to the overseas community to come home and build in this town. For while many returning residents have come to Mandeville to live, so many have gone elsewhere because of the frustration experienced by residents who cannot get water! We have therefore, through appalling decisions, stymied the growth and development of the whole of Manchester! This has created pockets of hot spots teeming with disgruntled, unemployed youth who have no hope of getting a job. No wonder crime surged in Mandeville.

We must, as a responsible nation, think of all of these things when electing our representatives. Our lives and and our future depend on those who make good, solid decisions for the betterment of our community – whether it is a stop sign or an adequate supply of water!

Sally Porteous

Councillor Mandeville Division

Manchester Parish Council

sporteous@infochan.com