RESIDENTS of Hanover and Westmoreland are expected to get some relief soon from the worsening drought through short-term measures to be implemented by National Water Commission (NWC).

Acting NWC President Kevin Kerr said the interventions will mitigate disruptions in water supply in both parishes.

“We will conduct a rapid appraisal of the network, we will do active leak detection and repair the leaks that we have found. We intend to regularise those customers who are not currently on board with us, to partner with us so we can promote conservation of the water that is unauthorised in use. We will commence the procurement of eight new water trucks, and will continue to intensify our trucking in that space,” he told a press briefing at the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation in St Andrew on Monday.

Kerr also pointed out that decalcification will commence in the Great River system, which entails washing sediments from the pipe and should bring an additional one million gallons per day that will be dedicated solely to Hanover.

“This water will reach as far as Green Island so we will minimise the need for the Logwood [treatment plant] to go to that space, which means more water will be available to pump to the communities in Whitehall, Red Ground and environs,” he said.

He said as well that the NWC will push to have the installation of a new standby generator for the Logwood facility completed by this weekend.

“Those of you who are living in the area are familiar with frequent power outages in the area, and this standby generator is to minimise the interruption when there is a single phase or low-voltage problem,” he said.

In the meantime, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Senator Matthew Samuda sought to assure residents that the Government is monitoring, very closely, allegations of “spurious interventions” in the area of trucking.

“We’ve asked the police to take a look at those allegations. If anyone is tampering with the water commission’s network we’re asking you to report it to the police, or to report it to the office of the president, or to myself. We have no evidence of it but the accusations continue and we want to assure citizens that if they report it, we will investigate and we will punish anyone who is caught in that regard,” he said.

“I also want to assure residents that we are clear that trucking is not the only or the best option, but it is the option we have for emergency response right now. It is why we are also ensuring that additional trucking will be made available to the citizens going into the end of May, when an assessment will be done… We are clear that this is having a debilitating impact and we are also working around the clock to ensure that persons get the emergency response,” he said.

Turning to another concern raised by residents, Samuda pointed to the “chronic issue” of disruptions brought about by energy breaks because Jamaica Public Service (JPS) and NWC do not consult each other when planning works.

“So NWC may have a scheduled supply but then JPS has scheduled works to take place on their power supply at the time when we need to pump water. I’ve met with Minister [of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport [Daryl] Vaz, and we will be convening a discussion between the NWC and JPS to ensure that works, where possible, we coordinate,” he said.