These are some of the emotions being expressed by residents of Daytona. Their feelings are centred around the National Water Commission (NWC), which they claimed have, for the past several months, been allowing little or no water into their community.

The residents tell THE PORTMORE STAR that they feel they are being neglected, since the water problems have been going on for so long despite several complaints to the NWC.

They say the commodity has become very rationed and the situation has been like this for the past 10 years. They say they hardly get water during the days and it only comes in the wee hours of the morning, when they are sleeping.

A teacher in the community said that the water situation has inconvenienced her life so much that she's stressed out. "Water is in the pipe during the day when most persons are at work or school. When I come home in the evenings, there is no water and it doesn't come back until 1a.m.-2 a.m. in the wee hours of the morning," she said. "Sometimes, I have to stay up late to do my laundry but I can't hang my clothes on the line those hours of the night."

What makes matters worse is that on weekends when most persons are at home, there is no water in the tap. "What saves me is that I have a tank. The only benefit of the water coming back late in the nights is that the tank gets full up, but what about those who don't have a tank?" another resident questioned.

One woman said she has called the Water Commission about the matter, but was not satisfied with their answer. "They are telling me that the water pressure is low, but that's not the case there is no water!" she emphasised.

Another resident said that she washes clothing for a living and when she washes for a member of the community she has to use water from her tank as there is no water in the taps.

reality

Portmore's Mayor George Lee said he knew about the water situation being faced by the residents, but said it has been a while since he has received any complaints. "We are faced with the reality that there is a shortage of water in Portmore. Residents of many communities have been calling the office. It's a reality we are faced with," he said, adding that some communities are more affected than others and says Daytona may be one of the worst affected ones.

When contacted, a spokesperson at the NWC said that it was a gross exaggeration on the residents' part when they say they have not been getting a regular water supply for the past 10 years. "That's not possible, we aren't aware of that situation," the spokesperson said. "We aren't aware that there was a problem. Thanks for alerting us."

The spokesperson added that there was no scheduled water lock-off for Daytona or anywhere in Portmore. He suggested that there may be a fault with the Goshen pump which serves the Daytona community, and noted the NWC will look into the matter next week.