NWC attempts to repair leaking pipes in Negril

NEGRIL, Hanover – The National Water Commission (NWC) announced that its teams have increased leak detection and repair activities across the Logwood pipeline network following concerns about a leaking pipe near the Welcome to Negril Shield's water splashed.

In response to inquiries from the Jamaica ObserverAccording to the NWC, during a recent leak tracing activity, the team uncovered and repaired four major pipeline ruptures that impacted supply distribution. The repairs have helped maintain good water pressure in the network – particularly along the Negril pipeline.

Acting regional manager David Pryce said work to detect leaks was ongoing and would hopefully lead to further success in minimizing water losses.

“Among the locations identified by the NWC was the Salt Creek Bridge near the entrance to Negril, where an old section of transmission line was found to be leaking. “The NWC team determined that this site requires a planned operation given the technical complexities involved in accessing and repairing the pipeline attached to the bridge’s support beams,” the commission said in response to questions last weekend the NWC
observer.

“Earlier this week a joint site visit was carried out with representatives from the National Works Agency (NWA) who provided guidance on appropriate approaches to carrying out the repairs. Based on the feedback, the NWC estimates that the full repair will be completed within two weeks,” the commission added.

Councilman Marvell Sewell (People's National Party, Green Island Division) also brought to the Hanover Municipal Corporation's attention the problem of the leaking pipe near the sign welcoming commuters to Negril. He was told that the leak had been going on for years.

“Millions of gallons of water are flowing into the river and I have contacted someone at the NWC and they say it is a big project; it is bigger than her. It has to come from Kingston and Kingston has been aware of this leak years ago. It’s not like yesterday when the pipe leaked,” Sewell argued.

He seemed to suggest that the NWC does not have the local manpower to properly maintain its network at the local level. Sewell said that in the '90s and '80s, when he was a child growing up in the Logwood area where the wastewater treatment plant is located, the NWC had a maintenance crew stationed there.

“You wouldn’t have a leak on the road for more than a day. These people would go around and fix the problem [it]. We need a team like this back in Logwood because everything is being centralized,” demanded the city council.

“At a time like this when we have a drought, it's really painful to see millions of gallons being wasted when citizens don't have the water in their homes,” Sewell added.

For his part, Sheridan Samuels, Mayor of Lucea, said that it is important for both hotels and citizens to have water, and problems like this result in several areas in Hanover lacking piped water.

Negril Chamber of Commerce President Elaine Allen Bradley said observer that the pipe had been leaking for over a year and had been brought to the attention of the NWC.

“One of the things they had said was that it couldn’t be repaired because it was an asbestos pipe and needed to be replaced. If they know it needs to be replaced and it's a big job, why not just do a replacement or close the lid? Why let it go with the millions? [gallons] of water flowing into the river while people have no water in their pipes?” she asked.

“NWC is ineffective and inefficient and I don't think it is wise to continue as before unless they change some engineers or managers. “How can it happen that during a drought, liters of water leak out of a pipe?” added the Chamber President.

Last Friday, Senator Matthew Samuda, Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, said Nationwide news network that up to 70 percent of the treated water in Hanover is lost through leaks. He said a major overhaul was needed to ensure resilience.