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🇯🇲 Jamaica /Energy & Infrastructure

Samuda orders review of NWC work sites amid Kingston traffic frustration

From Jamaica Observer · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Ongoing story
  • Jamaica’s water minister ordered the National Water Commission to review active work sites across Kingston and St Andrew after residents complained about traffic disruptions.
  • The review will examine road reinstatement, signage, barricades and traffic management as the commission works to expand water supplies during severe drought.
  • Planned works along three roads will shift mainly to nighttime and Sunday operations to reduce weekday traffic impacts.

Jamaica’s water minister has ordered a review of National Water Commission work sites across Kingston and St Andrew, as road excavations and emergency repairs add to traffic frustration at the start of the school year.

Matthew Samuda said he had raised concerns with NWC management about the pace of reinstatement at some locations, along with inadequate signage and traffic management. The review will focus on how quickly roads are restored, how sites are marked and barricaded, and how traffic moves around them.

I have expressed to the management of the National Water Commission my concern about the pace of reinstatement in some areas, as well as the adequacy of signage and traffic management at some work sites. These are areas in which we must do better.

· Matthew SamudaThe water minister described the concerns prompting the review of NWC work sites.

The works come as Kingston and St Andrew face severe drought conditions. The NWC is trying to bring additional sources into the Corporate Area network, including wells at Molynes Road and East Kings Road that have been out of service for a long period.

That explains some of what residents have been seeing, but it does not lessen the inconvenience when a road has to be excavated or when a community loses its water supply.

· Matthew SamudaHe explained how pressure changes can cause breaks while acknowledging the disruption.

Samuda said changing pressure in the network can expose weaknesses in older pipelines and lead to breaks as new water sources come online. But he acknowledged that the explanation does not reduce the inconvenience caused when roads are dug up or communities lose water supplies.

He said the government’s responsibility is “twofold: get additional water into the system during this drought, while responding to breaks and restoring affected roads as quickly and safely as possible”. Emergency repairs, he added, must continue until sites are safe, properly marked and fully restored. Major works along the Old Hope Road, Munroe Road and Wellington Drive corridor will move mainly to nighttime, with intensive Sunday work and temporary reinstatement of excavated sections to limit weekday disruption.

From the perspective of the citizen, the job is not finished until the site is safe, appropriately marked and the roadway is properly reinstated.

· Matthew SamudaHe set out what emergency repairs should include.
About this summary

Originally published by Jamaica Observer. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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