Government to distribute 5,000 black tanks

The Ministry of Water, Environment and Climate Change has activated emergency procurement procedures to acquire and distribute 5,000 black water-storage tanks across Jamaica over the next three months.

The initiative targets vulnerable sectors, essential agricultural operations and water-scarce communities to mitigate the effects of the current drought.

Portfolio minister Matthew Samuda made the announcement at a post-Cabinet press briefing held at Jamaica House on Wednesday.

Providing a breakdown of the distribution, Samuda stated that 1,000 tanks will be sent to early-childhood Institutions that are in the process of being certified by the Early Childhood Commission and are short of storage facility.

“We will provide them tanks and move them a little closer to being certified, but also to ensure that there is greater water security in the early-childhood sector,” Samuda said.

He added that while most of the country’s primary and secondary schools already have some storage, the ministry has partnered with Rural Water Supply Limited to assess several of the primary and secondary schools in the hilly interior of eastern parishes and determine where additional storage facilities are needed.

Another 1,000 storage tanks will go to the Rural Agricultural Development Authority for distribution among farmers.

“Our farmers are critical to food security and to fighting inflation, and [the tanks will] ensure that their livelihoods are not disrupted beyond what we can give them as additional support,” Samuda explained.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is also slated to receive 1,000 water tanks to be distributed to households with persons with disabilities.

Samuda noted that both ministries are working on the screening process to ensure that the tanks are distributed only to registered members with absolute need.

The remaining 2,000 water tanks will be distributed based on assessments by the Water Resources Authority, Rural Water Supply Limited and the National Water Commission to water-scarce communities in the eastern parishes.

“One of the challenges you have when you see trucks going to particular communities, and you see people running out with buckets and jars and all sorts of things, is because at the household level, they don’t have sufficient storage,” Samuda said.

“So, where we’re having some of these challenges in the eastern half of the island, we’ll be going into communities and intervening as best as is humanly possible with the remaining 2,000,” he added.

Samuda emphasised that the Government’s overall objective is to supply the neediest in society with 50,000 black tanks over the next four years.

While demand for immediate storage remains high, local manufacturing constraints currently limit immediate procurement.

“The Government would happily purchase 50,000 black tanks now, if they were available. There are only four manufacturers on the island, and that is what we have assessed the market to be able to provide. So, we will pretty much be taking all excess capacity out of the manufacturing sector that deals with black tanks locally,” Samuda said.