Richard McLean, a resident of Watermount, St Catherine, washes at a standpipe last Friday. - Ian Allen/Photographer

HE SAT with his back bent over a tub, scrubbing dirt from a pair of blue jeans. Items of clothing hung somewhat carelessly on the metal pipeline nearby.

This is how Richard McLean, a resident of Watermount, St Catherine, and numerous others get their laundry done.

Promises to take piped water to rural communities are not new and countless persons from rural areas continue to wait.

The latest pledge comes from Horace Chang, minister of water and housing. He announced recently at a press briefing at Jamaica House that a two-year programme aimed at improving the water supply in urban and rural communities would be introduced.

From a standpipe

But while the residents wait for these promises to be fulfilled, they continue to obtain the precious commodity from the Long Grass River and the St Catherine Parish Council standpipe in Watermount.

"This is where most people come to get water," McLean said, adding that constant water lock-offs in areas like Macca Tree, Brown's Hall and elsewhere have left neighbouring residents little choice.

"We always have water here, even when other communities don't have," McLean told The Gleaner.

The Watermount resident said it was common to see men and women occupying the open spaces of the unpaved road to do their weekly laundry on a Saturday.

However, while 90 per cent of urban areas have access to potable water, some residents of Watermount report that to get the commodity at home; they either have to carry it themselves or pay someone to.

"If there is a water problem, we sometimes get up very early to catch water from the river before people come to wash," Emily King, a resident of the area, said.

King, who has been living in Watermount since 1977, alleged that very little has been done to get water in the homes of residents.

Topography a problem

However, an employee at the St Catherine Parish Council said the council is responsible for water supply in the Watermount area. The employee explained that water could not be piped to some areas of the community because of the topography of some sections.

Even though the National Water Commission (NWC) has a capital commitment of more than $30 billion to carry out work this year, King expressed little faith in the commission, saying pipelines were placed in other communities but only function for a week or two before being removed.

Charles Buchanan, communications manager at the NWC, could not say with certainty the areas that would benefit from the rural programmes announced by Minister Chang.

However, he did say that not all standpipes in the rural areas of St Catherine were manned by the commission.

Buchanan also said that he does not believe that the NWC would remove any pipeline already positioned.

shernette.gillispie@gleanerjm.com