65,000 customers still without water after Jamaica blackout

Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda announced that as of Saturday afternoon, around 65,000 customers, or 12 percent of the National Water Commission's (NWC) customer base, are still without water service. This follows an islandwide power blackout that began Friday night and extended into Saturday morning.

Samuda explained the delay in water service restoration during a joint press conference. He noted that recharging an electricity line is a quicker process compared to refilling water lines that have run dry due to power outages. While major treatment plants and pumping stations have resumed operations, full restoration in communities like Clarendon, St. Elizabeth, and St. James is being hampered by persistent electrical power issues affecting facilities.

“

The timing associated with charging an electricity line is a much shorter period than the timeline associated with backfilling water lines that ran dry because of the power outages that affected our power systems.

Despite power being restored to most customers by Saturday morning, inclement weather later in the day caused some localized power losses. Samuda emphasized that while primary production facilities are recovering quickly, the immediate priority is maintaining backup power systems and mobilizing local maintenance teams to safely restart other systems and rebuild critical water storage capacity in the affected parishes.

The minister provided specific updates for several parishes. Kingston & St. Andrew and Trelawny report operational major systems. St. Catherine has most networks online, though the Old Harbour system is affected by a secondary outage. Manchester's primary facilities are online, with storage being replenished, though gradual restoration is expected for specific re-lift stations. Clarendon faces persistent outages in its southern areas, while St. James has seen Great River restored, with ongoing replenishment of Terminal Reservoir and Appleton Hall tanks. St. Ann's Minard plant is under assessment after an electrical trip, and Hanover's Shettlewood system is undergoing maintenance.

“

While primary production facilities are rebounding quickly, our immediate priority is maintaining backup power systems and mobilising localised maintenance support to safely restart other systems and rebuild critical storage capacity in the lagging parishes.