The Prime Minister's Office Has Responded—Our Campaign Is Making Progress

UPDATE: The Prime Minister's Office Has Responded

For nearly two decades, Beecher Town, Twickenham, Race Course, Cottage, New Street, Hinds Town, and Salisbury have lived just 3½ miles from Ocho Rios without piped water. This month, we took our case directly to the highest office in government.

On June 25, we sent our Fifth Follow-Up letter the first in this campaign addressed directly to the Office of the Prime Minister setting a July 9, 2026 deadline for a substantive response.

Our letter referenced Minister Matthew Samuda's June 24 Post-Cabinet Press Briefing announcing approximately J$5 billion in water infrastructure contracts, including projects in St. Ann South Eastern. It also cited the Auditor General's June 2026 report, which found that the National Water Commission had missed key service targets for six consecutive years, along with two previous NWC case files on Beecher Town that produced no resolution (Refs. 10011728 and 10037552).

On June 30—just five days later we received a response.

The Office of the Prime Minister referred our letter to Minister Matthew Samuda and Permanent Secretary Wayne O. Robertson, JP. The Permanent Secretary responded directly and confirmed that the matter has been escalated to the President of the National Water Commission.

This is real progress. It shows that every signature, every share, and every voice is helping to bring attention to communities that have waited far too long.

However, this is not yet the substantive commitment we requested. We have replied to the Permanent Secretary, reaffirming BTGBA's willingness to work collaboratively toward a solution, and we now await the National Water Commission's response. Our July 9 deadline remains in place.

We are also pursuing accountability on another front. Beecher Town's case is formally before the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. After acknowledging our submission, the Office advised us to follow up in early July. We are doing so today, July 1.

We are now approaching 1,000 signatures.

Every signature makes it harder to ignore these communities. Every share makes it harder for another deadline to pass in silence.

Thank you for standing with Beecher Town.

#BeecherTownWater

Sharon Codner MPA
Lead Advocate, BTGBA
Beecher Town Water Initiative