Water Minister Matthew Samuda says full restoration is expected by Tuesday for the approximately 2,000 National Water Commission customers still without water following Friday’s islandwide blackout.
Samuda said that, as of 8:00 p.m. Sunday, only one system in Manchester and two plants in St Elizabeth remained offline due to issues linked to the Jamaica Public Service power outage.
He noted that NWC and JPS teams were continuing work at the affected sites and expected the matter to be resolved by Monday.
The update follows earlier reports that about 65,000 households, representing 12 per cent of NWC’s customer base, were without water as of Saturday afternoon.
Samuda described the disruption as unfortunate, but said the Government has been investing in backup systems to strengthen the water sector’s resilience during power outages.
He said more than $1 billion has been spent since Hurricane Beryl on generators designed to activate when electricity supply is interrupted.
The minister added that the Government will continue working toward more sustainable power solutions, with a goal of improving resilience across 70 per cent of the water distribution network over the next few years.
OUR Demands Preliminary Report from JPS After Islandwide Blackout
