Some residents of Red Bank, St Elizabeth, say they are getting water bills but no water for the past three months and are calling on the National Water Commission (NWC) to provide some solution to their water problems.

However the commission says some of the residents are to be blamed for the shortage of water, because they are using the domestic supply to water their crops, thereby causing water not to reach to all the customers.

Patroy Powell, a farmer in Carlyle in Red Bank, said he knew people who had been getting bills for several months despite having no water. "They just seem to be sending the bill and no water... and when we don't get no water we have to buy it from water truck for all $9,000 per load and sometimes you need three loads for a week," he said.

Desmond Whitley, another resident from the community, said that water shortage affects their ability to provide crops consistently. "This is part of the reason why we have glut on the market sometimes, because everybody plant one time (the wet season) and so all the crops are reaped one time," he said.

He noted that during the times that they do not have water, the commission sometimes truck water to the area, however this is inconsistent.

But Charles Buchanan, public relations manager at the NWC, said that the supply was irregular in some parts of the community because residents had been using the water for farming. He added that some residents had placed additional connections, some illegal and others from their own home connections, that led into their fields and this was putting added strain on the system.

not for irrigation

"The most severe issue is where persons believe and continue to believe that the water provided by the NWC is for irrigation and agriculture," he said.

He said when persons put on additional connections this diverted some of the water supply from the main and into fields, thereby reducing the water pressure and causing residents, who were at either higher elevation or at the end of the main, not to get water.

He emphasised that "piped, treated water was not designed to irrigate lands." Buchanan said that farmers who wanted water for their fields should go through the National Irrigation Commission, or purchase water through the Rapid Response service.

He also said residents, who were not receiving water, ought to encourage those diverting the supply for irrigation purposes to desist from the practice and find alternative sources.