Commentary

Paying for 'life'

A STORY IN Wednesday's STAR spoke about the communities of Centre Cut and Nine Miles, near Spaldings, Clarendon, that have been without water for the last five months. The story also said that efforts to contact the National Water Commission(NWC) had been unsuccessful.

The story told the tale of residents who have been forced to fork out as much as $500 for each 55-gallon container that is placed on a pick up truck.

If the account given by the residents is true, then they are probably spending far more on water than they would spend on a monthly basis. This means that their overall living expenses have gone up in a time when money is hard to come by.

While THE STAR is unaware of the reason the residents of these communities have been without water for so long, we can only hope that the report published on Wednesday will push the authorities to rectify the problem as soon as possible.

What must be taken into consideration is that the NWC has pushed the slogan 'Water is Life'. Hence, every effort must be taken by the utility company to provide the residents with this key component for life. No water will ultimately lead to unnecessary suffering for these residents.