Comma Pen thirsts for water

It has been more than three decades since residents of Comma Pen in southern St Elizabeth have had water running from their pipelines.

With a current drought, their only sources of water comes from trucks, and that can cost up to $12,000. Orville Dyer, who sat trimming a huge heap of scallion with his family when the news team travelled to the community, said he is anticipating the day when potable water will be flowing through their pipelines.

"Sometimes is all four times for the month we have to be buying water or more. Right now the scallion dem whe we a trim up not even as eye-catching like one time because enough water not there to nourish dem. Mi would waan see water in the pipe dem. Is years upon years we nuh have any," he said.

Several empty lots were observed in sections of the farming community. Dorothy Allen, another resident, said they were all once occupied for farming, but the lack of water had caused the farmers to abandon the space.

Farming take a lot of water

"One time if yuh come here yuh would see the entire place plant up and a lot of people use to come here for food, but that not happening now because we can't plant. There is no water here and farming take a lot of water so if yuh even buy a truck of water and depending on the space that yuh have, it will just last for two or three days," she said.

Jillian Dyer said that the residents are all independent and hard-working people, who don't want handouts.

"A lot of persons have moved their farms to other parts of the community because drought is killing us and we don't have water. Right now the scallion that we trimming wasn't even planted in our community. It was planted about two miles away in New Forest," she said.

Member of Parliament for South East St Elizabeth, Franklin Witter, said he is very much aware of the water woes and said that pipes are currently being laid to resolve the issue.

"The work has started to give them both irrigation and domestic water. The residents are aware of it as we had a meeting up to last Thursday in the community. For the irrigation part of the process, we have just completed digging the well, so we are moving to the second phase to start laying pipes," he said.