Springs to the rescue as St James water crisis deepens

Jamaica Gleaner | 2025-12-07 | Original Article

A worsening water crisis in St James has forced residents across the parish to depend on roadside springs and makeshift catchments for basic household needs, even as health officials warn that the water may be contaminated and pose serious risks such as leptospirosis and gastroenteritis.

 

The Sunday Gleaner recently visited a well-known roadside catchment called Banana Spring in Cornwall Courts, where people were seen bathing, washing cars and filling jugs and buckets. A water truck was also observed collecting water.

 

Among those at the spring was Barrett Town resident Peter Reid, who arrived with containers to fill.

 

“Washing, cooking, bathing, flushing the toilet, but not drinking straight,” he said of his plans for the water, noting that he has known the spring for decades.

 

“I’m aware of this spring from what – 1987? Drink from it, so me know it’s been here from a long time.”

 

Earlier that day, health officials had erected a large sign warning that the water may be contaminated and advising residents to avoid wading, swimming, bathing and playing in it. The sign also provided instructions on how to make water safer by boiling or bleaching. They also distributed pamphlets and spoke with residents about the ongoing leptospirosis outbreak.

 

One of the ministry personnel, speaking unofficially, said teams had been driving across the parish posting signs at multiple catchment areas. Water samples were taken from Banana Spring but test results were not yet available.

 

“I cannot say whether the water is safe and free from any possible contaminant,” he said.

 

Still, the lack of piped water has left many desperate. Reid said Barrett Town has had no running water since Hurricane Melissa, and two broken NWC mains make the situation worse.

 

“Wi nuh see nuh councillor; wi nuh see nobody even though we a plead,” Reid said.

 

“And even if water comes tomorrow, the entire community of Barrett Town could not get it because if they turn on the pump, then the water would just waste through the broken mains.”

 

He also said his community has received no parish council trucked water.

 

“No! Never seen one,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

 

According to Reid, people from nearby Lilliput also used to crowd Banana Spring in large numbers before their supply was restored.

 

“You’d come here and see maybe thousands more people. But since they got back water there, the volume of people is limited,” he said.

 

He acknowledged that trucks have been filling up at the spring but could not say whether the water is being sold.

 

“Once people need water, yeah, they come here and get water. I don’t know whether they sell it or they use it for their own purposes. I don’t buy it. I never enquired,” he said.

 

A woman from Lilliput collecting water said the spring has long been a lifeline.

 

“A lot of people from this area come here all the time. This water has always been safe,” she said, adding that a neighbour who works with a water company assured her the water is “crystal clear and safe”.

 

She argued that health officials were focusing on the wrong location, claiming a nearby river – where trucks once filled up – is the real concern.

 

“Unuh fi go look ‘round deh so, not here. There so is a concern. Trucks used to full around there and then stop.

 

“It was even for me a concern that they are filling up and giving people. But not here, so,” she emphasised.

 

Asked about the trucking of water by the parish council in her area, she said she was unsure if it was being done, but she had seen trucks giving out water. However, she has refused to collect any out of fear.

 

“When they do come with water, I do not want it. I know some of the trucks, and I know where dem a get the water from,” she said.

 

According to her if the water at Banana Spring was not safe, there would have already been an outbreak of disease.

 

“From Melissa we a use the water and no outbreak nuh happen, so wah that mean?” she asked.

 

In the upscale Ironshore community, The Sunday Gleaner came upon a chef washing his car while his daughters and niece played in water flowing from an underground spring through a makeshift pipe along the roadway.

 

He, too, said the spot had been used long before Hurricane Melissa.

 

“People have been coming here to wash vehicles, fill containers, and wash clothes and bathe every night,” he said.

 

But he acknowledged the severity of the crisis.

 

“The crisis is real ‘cause no matter what you a do, you cyaa really operate without water. And if you at home and you don’t have no water, you feel uncomfortable,” he reasoned.

 

Normally he pays $9,000 every two weeks to fill his tank, but the truckman had run out of water. He said he does not use trucked or spring water for drinking or cooking, buying bottled water instead.

 

“Mi nuh run joke when it come to those things and bellyache and those things nuh nice, and I have children to consider,” he said.

 

The chef said another spring in Reading has become a “party spot”.

 

“I went down there recently and saw someone with a washing machine,” he said, noting his astonishment.

 

But, he said, residents have few alternatives.

 

“We don’t have any other option right now.”

 

The Ironshore spring originates on the property of Leopold Fogo, a guest house owner who discovered it 25 years ago while building a pond. He has been allowing residents and truck operators to collect water freely since Melissa. Health ministry workers have tested the spring several times, he said, including the morning before our visit.

 

“See it deh, dem come back and test it then dem go weh” he said, insisting the water is clean.

 

“The water is safe to drink. They told me if I’m giving it to the truckman, add some bleach.”

 

Fogo said people often give him a contribution, but he does not sell water.

 

A truck driver collecting water at Ironshore also defended the spring.

 

“The water has been tested multiple times and is one of the best water in the parish. Even when we bring the water to these hotels, them say a this water them prefer,” he said.

 

He criticised water being taken from Reading.

 

“Most of the guys, if you go by Reading, that area, they are sucking up water just from in the swamp in that area because since the storm came, those waters appeared.

 

“So they are sucking up those waters. Many of them go to the hotels and them turn them back because the water that they have is contaminated,” he claimed.

 

He insisted residents have been drinking the Ironshore water for months with no complaints.

 

“This water, we are drawing this water for almost a year now. It serves Ironshore, Parade Gardens, everywhere the hotels, even restaurants, because my truck is sanitised, and when they go there, they test the water and they ask for the documents. I give it to them and it’s taken.

 

“I’ve been drinking the water. The water is clean,” he said, also noting the clear appearance of the water.

 

Still, uncertainty remains. The Ironshore chef said Jamaica Public Service workers told him electricity may not be fully restored until January, and without power, water systems cannot function.

 

“Bere a dem news deh we a get. It’s distressing,” he said.

 

Consequently, he said that his Christmas celebrations are in jeopardy.

 

Since the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28, the Ministry of Health has declared an outbreak of leptospirosis across the island. To date, the country has recorded 71 suspected, probable or confirmed cases, including 26 that have been officially confirmed.

 

The ministry also reported that 12 people have died, seven of whom were confirmed as leptospirosis-related.

 

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com

 

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