Manchester councillor urges urgent water trucking for Alligator Pond

Water shortages in sections of Manchester have become severe enough to require urgent government support, according to councillor Omar Robinson, who raised the issue at the latest monthly meeting of the Manchester Municipal Corporation.

Robinson said residents in the Alligator Pond area are struggling with an increasingly difficult lack of water. He urged the mayor to press the Ministry of Local Government for quick assistance, particularly with trucking water into communities that have been left short.

The councillor said appeals from residents and public institutions are becoming harder for the corporation to manage. He told the meeting that “each day the cries are getting louder” and questioned how long the council could continue telling people only that correspondence had been sent and that it was awaiting a response.

Robinson said the requests are not limited to households. Basic schools, a health centre, the police station, primary schools and the high school have all contacted the corporation seeking help, he said.

He explained that turning down those calls is difficult, but said the council’s ability to respond depends on available funds. The corporation has to pay the National Water Commission for the water and also cover the cost of the people transporting it, he said, making the operation expensive.

The mayor said the municipal corporation would again write to the Local Government Ministry, asking that the requested support be expedited.