OXFAM Working With Parish Council in Clarendon to Improve Water Supplies

Some $10.82 million is being spent by the Oxford Family (OXFAM), working in conjunction with the Clarendon Parish Council, to improve water and sanitation in the parish.
Rohan Blake, Director of Planning at the Clarendon Parish Council told JIS News that 1,000 and 800-gallon tanks have been installed in the Mitchell Town, Portland Cottage, Jackson Bay, Rocky Settlement and Mooreland communities at a cost of $651,000.
In addition, $1.86 million is being spent by OXFAM to provide contractual services to remove debris and garbage from several communities, including Portland Cottage, Lionel Town, and Rocky Point; another $7.44 million is being spent to provide the structures to house 800 toilets in the Rocky Point Division; and $868,000 is being used to repair the Portland Cottage Community Centre.
The Oxford Family is a disaster mitigation organization based in the United Kingdom, and works in collaboration with the United Nations Disaster and Assessment Co-ordination team.
“We are very happy to have been introduced to OXFAM and to receive this kind of support as part of our relief efforts after Hurricane Ivan. I need to highlight that some of these efforts, particularly where the tanks are concerned, will have long term benefits for residents in these communities,” he said.
He noted that the water 35 tanks were installed in the communities between the end of September and October 4, and that a large amount of debris was being cleared from the areas.
“Two critical issues in the southern part of the parish are being addressed as Portland Cottage and Rocky Point were very adversely affected by very high waves, which has caused quite a lot of displacement,” he said.