THE EDITOR, Sir:
I LIVE on Charlton Road, and for the fourth consecutive morning I wake up to find that I still have no water. I feel very dirty and very angry! This sad experience started on Monday (Boxing Day) when I awoke to discover that I had extremely low water pressure. The water pressure was too low to take a shower. I live in an apartment complex that has no tank, so I called the NWC's emergency number and received an automated response saying no one was available during the holidays (are you kidding me?!).
The message gave a temporary number to call for assistance which I did. The man at that temporary number explained that there was a broken main in Allerdyce and this was affecting the surrounding areas. He assured me that the water main was being repaired and explained that I should have water sometime in the afternoon, but he was unable to give a precise time. I thanked him and psyched myself up to "suffer" until the end of the day. But the end of the day came and still no water. I went to bed dirty and annoyed, hoping the water would return during the night. But when I awoke on Tuesday, there was still no water.
BROKEN AGAIN
I called the NWC's emergency and customer care number again and one of their regular agents answered and said that the pipe had been repaired but had broken again. I asked her if she had an estimated time when the repairs would be completed and she said no, but that if I did not receive water back in two hours, I should call her back. I called her back every two hours until four o'clock, and her only response was that "they are working on it right now."
Out of frustration I drove to Allerdyce to look at the progress of the repairs myself. Imagine my surprise and anger to find that there was no one working at the broken main and water was pouring through the dirt of the hastily filled hole and running down the street. It was obvious that the water had been running for some time. I called the NWC again and explained to the woman that no one was working on the repairs. I also asked if the customer care section did not get feedback from the field workers to know what to tell customers when they called. She said not really. Then, of what use is your customer service section, I asked, if you have no updated information to give the customer when the customer calls? She was unable to answer.
UNACCEPTABLE
This is ridiculous and unacceptable! But to whom does one complain? I live in the middle of the city, not in some inaccessible mountainous district in rural Jamaica. It should not take four days to fix a water main! I am quite certain that if I resided in one of the inner-city communities, we would have already blocked the road and demonstrated, and the water main would have long since been repaired.
What does this situation say about this supposedly modern city in the twenty-first century? They can build highways with toll booths but it takes Jamaicans four days to fix a water pipe? What does it say about the NWC's capabilities when they cannot repair a broken water main in four days? No surprise that so many feel they cannot get any justice in this country unless they take matters into their own hands. And the Prime Minister talks about values and attitudes? What kind of attitude do you expect me to have when I have not had water for four days?
I am, etc.,
KM! RA
Kingston,
