Western Bureau:

In a crackdown on water thieves in Negril, Westmore-land, a police stint on Monday nabbed a well-known water truck owner and driver stealing water from a National Water Commission hydrant.

According to the assistant superintendent of police for Westmoreland, Ryan Gayle, the West End area in particular has experienced severe water shortages due to drought and illegal extraction of water from fire hydrants. He is adamant that the illegal practice by the water truck owners and drivers will have to stop.

"I knew of the water stealing ring when it was brought to my attention by NWC representatives and the Negril Chamber of Commerce recently in a meeting. So my police team set up stint on Monday night where we caught one of the perpetrators illegally extracting water," Gayle told The STAR.

The unidentified man has not yet been formally charged as further investigations continue.

The top cop explained that these individual private water-trucker drivers steal the water from the hydrants, which affects the water pressure sent to NWC customers, and resell the commodity to the same residents affected by the shortage.

"Once our investigations are complete we intend to charge this person with the maximum weight such an offence carries, with the view of deterring others from continuing with this practice. This latest collaborative effort between us, the residents and the business community shows that we can all get things done in the interest of law and order once we work together," the senior cop confirmed.

He further added that they are monitoring the situation with the intent to nab more persons involved in the water stealing activity.

Businessman and publicist Ralston Barrett, who lives in Negril, revealed that the water truck persons are asking for as much as $10,000 per order, a price not many can afford.

"For months, we've been having this shortage and while the shortage is not something new to us down this side, it was just too much this time around. I used to wonder how you can have a water shortage and there's a lot of water trucks selling water, something was just off with the whole situation. Times are tough, not everyone can afford to buy water and still have to pay NWC bills," Barrett said.