Over 98 Per Cent of NWC Customers Reconnected Post-Melissa

The National Water Commission (NWC) has now restored service to more than 98 per cent of customers who were without water supply, following disruptions caused by the passage of Hurricane Melissa in October 2025.

Acting President of the NWC, Kevin Kerr informed a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (May 12), that this restoration comes amid significant damage sustained to the infrastructure.

He noted that water restoration is an ongoing process involving several factors.

“It involves assessing damage, repairing systems, restoring power, and ensuring that the water supplied is safe,” he said.

He added that affected communities particularly in Westmoreland, Hanover, St. Elizabeth, Trelawny, and St. James, continue to receive support from the NWC through the trucking of water and through partnerships with organisations providing additional support.

“We have also been working closely with agencies such as the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) and the National Works Agency (NWA) to accelerate restoration where challenges extend beyond our direct control,” Mr. Kerr added.

He noted, further, that the NWC’s experience coming out of Hurricane Melissa, has reinforced the importance of resilience, while also informing the entities’ plans moving forward.

“Investments in backup power, infrastructure strengthening, and emergency planning have made a real difference and will continue to do so,” Mr. Kerr said.

For his part, Acting Vice President of Operations at the NWC, Herman Fagan said the NWC was able to restore up to 70 per cent of customers shortly following the hurricane.

“Within the first month, we were able to provide service to over 60 to 70 per cent of our customers. Most of our customers are served predominantly by our main treatment plants, which is in Kingston – you have Mona and Constant Spring, and in the West, you have Great River and New Martha Brae,” he said

“In the West, we were able to restore services to all customers which are served particularly by the Great River System, which supplies over 60 to 70 per cent of the water in Montego Bay, St. James, and its environs,” Mr. Fagan added.

Meanwhile, Vice President of Enterprise Development and Performance Monitoring, at the NWC, Glaister Cunningham, credited the entity’s collaboration with telecommunications providers, as well as its own business continuity and hurricane plans for the NWC’s ability to quickly restore service in some areas.

“Both were put into effect before the hurricane landed and as soon as it passed. No plan works without the ability to communicate, so our partnership with the telecoms providers became very important because if you can’t get through to the people who are to effect the plans, it slows everything down to a halt,” Mr. Cunningham added.