Water Ministry to Refurbish JSIF Water Systems

The Ministry of Water and Housing is in the process of taking over and refurbishing water systems, which were constructed by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with community involvement, but which are now non-functional.
This was disclosed by Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Horace Chang, at a JIS Think Tank forum on Tuesday (August 19).
“We are just completing the Rural Master Plan for rural Jamaica. This will be ready by the end of the year, so (that) we can have a structured programme for the next four years and overcome the rural water problems. We are in discussion with JSIF, to take over a number of schemes that they did,” the Minister said.
“This is satisfying for me, but also worrying. JSIF was asked to do a lot of water systems across the island by community-based groups, but there were no plans on how to run them”, he added.
Dr. Chang said that some $1 billion was spent to build these systems.
“When I say ‘not working’, I am referring to brand new pipes and pumps all over the place with no water in them,” he reiterated.
He said the Ministry is now in the process of rehabilitating these systems, to get them working so the people who they are intended to serve can get water.
JSIF, as part of its mandate, insists on community participation in all its projects. It stipulates that the community contributes between five and 25 per cent of the cost of a project in cash or kind. However, JSIF does not provide funds for maintenance, as this has to be borne by the benefitting communities themselves.