Falling Springs Water Supply Project: Springfield, St Mary
Address
by
Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
At
Falling Springs Water Supply Project: Springfield, St Mary
On
June 18, 2025
______________________________________________________________
Thank you, Mr President.
And allow me to acknowledge my colleagues, MP Kerensia and MP Bobby, who are so neighbourly. I’m actually surprised because even though MPs are colleagues and even when they’re in the same political organisation, they’re usually still very competitive because they’re competing for resources for their individual constituencies, but I have found a surprisingly high level of cooperation between Bobby and Kerensia, which leads me to think of that there might be something else, but… they’re very cooperative. And it renounced to the benefit of both constituents because the truth is that water resources are placed naturally in areas by God. We don’t determine where they are. We have to go and dig them up wherever they are and make the connections, so there might be a water source in Kerensia’s constituency that must serve the people in Bobby’s constituency. It’s one Jamaica, so we can’t say the water that is in Kerensia’s constituency can’t serve the people in Bobby’s constituency; the water in St Catherine can’t be brought over to St Mary because the truth is that the borders are usually artificially set. We’re all one people.
Now, I have toured this community many times. I recall in 2013, I visited Mr Pat and Ms Bunny. Yes, I recall being hosted at your home. Yes, and so I was reminded by MP Montague, and he jogged my memory, and I did recall, and I want to thank you for your hospitality and support at that time. And it’s very good to see you here still as active members of the community and the community club. Your best has been good enough. And I want to commend as well this Springfield Community Club, a club for all ages and all people. It’s not usual that you have these community spaces in communities, and it is obvious that you would’ve worked hard yourself to build this facility. And it is clear that you will have quite a bit of community support, that people actually come and have their meetings here, keep their events here, and that is so good because you see sometimes when you just listen to what is circulated generally you would come to the impression that all communities in Jamaica are falling apart, that people are not working together for civic and the community affairs. And as you go around Jamaica, you realise that the core values, the core principles, the things that make us Jamaican, the sense of community, the good morning ma’am, the hello and howdy do, that is still very much present and practiced in communities right across Jamaica, particularly in many of what is described as rural communities.
And indeed, aside from not having water and the challenge with roads, the quality of life here is sometimes much better than the quality of life in some of the urban communities, certainly in terms of violence, in terms of peace of mind, in terms of health, and in terms of just simply being able to breathe fresh air, live peacefully, and just have an enjoyable life. We must not view rural existence as something that we should want to eliminate from the landscape of Jamaica. I know there are many persons who their wish is to be able to retire in their own community and plant up a little plot of land in their backyard, and we must promote that but in promoting that, being rural doesn’t mean that you should not have the conveniences of life and the conveniences of urban living, which is by our standards which we set for ourselves, is that everybody should have potable water to your homes.
Now, in the development of Jamaica, when communities were being established, it was in some instances, understood that some of these communities would not be on what is called the utility supply, meaning that they couldn’t be connected to an NWC supply because during those times, NWC wasn’t running mains and pipes and lift stations all over. So we had what was called the local water supply facility. Some of these were run by parish councils, or some of them run by rural water, and those local supplies would not have kept pace with the growth and the expectations of communities. And some of these rural supplies lost their source. Some of them were springs, and the spring dried up; you created a little entombment around the spring, and then 10 years after that spring is no longer running, and you have the old entombment but no water. So, as we become a more modern society and as we intend to meet the expectations of both our urban and rural population, governments have to make greater investments in ensuring that you have the basics on which you can build your community: proper water and proper roads.
So, today I’m here to, the proper term would be, we’re not breaking ground, but we are announcing… Well, it’s more than announcing because it has started. So, as MP Montague has explained, we have found a new source of water to replace the old source and rural water has taken over the project to develop the project. They have come, they have done their tests, they’re satisfied with the quality of the water and the consistent supply of the water, so they have established that this can be a source of water. This is a source that can be harvested, and how they’re going to harvest it is that they’re going to, obviously, they have to run a line. I gather that the terrain is quite treacherous and we almost lost MP Kerensia, but thankfully, Superman Bobby was able to rescue her, which is why I was thinking that there might be something else.
They’re going to put in pipes to connect to the source, and those pipes will be carrying water that will be pulled and pushed, pumped by a solar pump, and the water will be stored here. I believe some parts here will be used to store the water, and then that water will be fed into the existing water mains of the NWC by gravity. And once it gets into the NWC system, then it gets into their own pumping system as well and so there will be more water in the existing network, so that communities that are only getting water one day of the week or sometimes no time for the week, months before, you will now have more water and more reliable water and better quality water.
This is a relatively small investment in the grand scheme of things. Just under $50 million will be invested right here in the extraction of the water, in the pipeline, the lift station, which will house the solar pump and the storage tank for the water, but that investment will help to improve the quality of life of the people in this community, and I’m very happy that I am able to not just announce that we plan to, but to advise you that the work has already begun so look forward to having a better water supply in the lovely community of Springfield and adjoining districts.
Thank you very much.