$350M Drought Relief
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda, says the Government has allocated $350 million to lessen the impact of the dry spell affecting several regions across the island.
Addressing a special press briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday, Samuda said that $150 million of the amount will be for trucking of water and will be directed through members of parliament.
The dry spell has affected approximately 10 per cent of the National Water Commission’s (NWC) 450 systems, with the company reporting that 44 of their systems are currently being impacted by drought conditions. Of that amount, 23 are operating below 50 per cent capacity.
Samuda said a further $50 million will be to support further trucking of water by the NWC “to service critical infrastructure” and another $50 million to purchase water tanks.
Another $100 million will go towards assisting farmers affected by the drought conditions, by way of trucking, drip irrigation systems and grass purchases. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining will be responsible for implementing this phase.
Samuda said the move by the Government is unusual for Jamaica at this time of year.
“It is unusual that this sort of intervention takes place at this time of the year and as Evan Thompson, director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, would have said and would have shown in his graphs, we are not getting the rainfall that is in line with our 30-year calculated averages and that, in and of itself, creates a very difficult circumstance for the water sector, whether it be the NWC, the municipal systems or the National Irrigation Commission, because it makes it very difficult to plan,” Samuda pointed out.
He said the Government’s plan to invest $22 billion in the water sector, to include potable water, sewerage and irrigation is currently underway and upon completion will benefit over 900,000 Jamaicans.
And speaking at the same press briefing, NWC Acting President, Garth Jackson, said the dry spell is being felt more severely in eastern Jamaica. According to Jackson, about 40 systems in eastern Jamaica are being affected, while in the west, just about three are affected.
“The rest of these systems – Hanover, Westmoreland, Manchester – all are operating largely at capacity, currently,” Jackson revealed.
Meanwhile, the Hermitage Dam and Mona Reservoir, which serve the Corporate Area, are at 62 per cent and 50 per cent capacity, respectively, he said, which are below the caution level, set at 65 per cent of capacity for both.
Because of this, Jackson said the NWC will be taking short-term and medium to long-term actions to address the situation.
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20250718/350m-drought-relief