Clarendon community longs for water

Residents of Lime Hall, Clarendon, are yet to enjoy the comfort and simple pleasure of having a shower in their bathrooms.

In fact, to enjoy a drink of potable water, they have to travel miles to the neighbouring community of Sutton or to a standpipe in Rock River, which is about three miles away.

Linford Brown, who has become somewhat accustomed to the trials of living in Lime Hall, shared with THE STAR that he is now looking forward to better days.

Counting himself as "one of the lucky ones," he said he owns a car and that makes it easier for him to get water outside of the community. However, that also comes with its own headache, as he said it means constantly replacing car parts as the road is bad.

Brown showed the news team a section of the road that is badly broken away, with some of the paved areas falling into the river. Large boulders provide a makeshift bridge between the river and the road. Residents say they need a proper bridge.

"A di big bad rain last year September cause dis. It buss off the pave road. Dem haffi get tractor and clear it [so] dat people coulda pass," he explained. According to Brown, prior to paving the road, they tried to lay down tar "and the river teck it away". But even the paving hasn't worked. Brown also said that when the river dries up, the sole means of getting water for domestic purposes is to 'dig buddo', a localised expression for digging holes in the riverbed to seek water.

Donna Jemmison, who lives in the nearby community of Mitchell's Hill, said residents there are facing similar water woes. But she thinks the solution to getting water lies in a spring.

"That spring would really help us when they coming to do whatever with the water, we could get the catchment from there. That spring has always been there. I never know of it to go dry," she said.

"A lot of people use it to drink, 'cause every time it's dry, that is the only spring that everybody go to get water," she said, adding that the wait can be long at times.