Thank you, Minister Pearnel Charles Jr
Dear Editor,
I do not practise any form of public debate or communication on politics or politicians; however, I witnessed an event that warmed my heart and gave me hope for my country. On Wednesday, September 25, 2019 members of my community in Duhaney Park took the streets to protest the lack of water. For weeks we have battled with little to no water in our pipelines. I have been unable to properly plan regular activities that I once took for granted. You can understand, as a person with a family, how this can be seriously frustrating.
However, something unexpected happened at the protest. In the midst of us venting our frustration and demanding attention from the powers that be, the minister with responsibility for water Pearnel Charles Jr showed up. What is even more heart-warming is that he had no idea that the protest was going on at the time it was. He was merely passing by, saw us venting our frustration, and decided to stop risking life and limb, I might add, as we were truly in the pits of our anger. He engaged us with what I saw to be genuine care and contacted National Water Commission (NWC) himself, refusing to leave until the NWC arrived on the scene.
The NWC arrived and explained to us the difficulties they were having in servicing our community due to some break in a pipeline off Mandela Highway. Though we didn’t care much for their explanation, we understood. Before they left, our community had water in the pipes, and I must say we are truly grateful.
Our problems are not completely fixed as we still have horrible roads and I know the water is not here to stay. Nevertheless, I am grateful to the NWC, but mostly to the minister, as he could’ve simply drove by and we would have never known it was him. He instead chose to stop and face the fire and ensured that our fire was extinguished with water in our pipes.
I know the water situation is horrible and so many of us are being affected, but I also know now that there are people in Government that care and are truly trying to assist the people. I am using this medium to say thank you to Minister Pearnel Charles Jr for simply showing us that you care.
A hopeful citizen