Member of Parliament for West Portland, Daryl Vaz today raised alarm about severe drought conditions in the Parish and the need for the relevant authorities to come to the aid of residents, entities and communities who are without water.
 
Mr. Vaz said that many residents are in need of trucked water as their water supply and sources for water such as rivers have dried. Mr. Vaz expressed serious concerns about the possibility of a health emergency developing over the coming days and weeks if the relevant authorities do not quickly intervene. He further pointed out that the Parish’s ability to respond to the demand is hampered by the fact that there are only two or three contracted water trucks in Portland.
 
Mr. Vaz says that he has been assisting in the trucking of water through his Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allotment however due to the severity and scale of the drought greater support is required. Mr. Vaz called for a meeting with the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Water, the National Water Commission and the Portland Parish Council to coordinate the necessary relief efforts and urged the government to move speedily as residents including many school children are severely inconvenienced.  
 
He recommended that similar meetings be held across the island to in a coordinated and organized way deal with the same problems.

For further information contact:   
 
Mr. Daryl Vaz, MP
West Portland
Cel: 381-4112