Brown Christmas

WHILE MOST BARBADIANS were having a merry time with family and friends yesterday, some folk in the north were experiencing a brown Christmas.

Residents from Upper Castle and Collins and Boscobel in St Peter said Christmas Day saw them having to cope with more brown, discoloured water flowing through their taps, a problem they said had been occurring intermittently over the past three or four months.

“Last year we had the issue of not having water for a week or two weeks straight; and this year we have been seeing brown water for the past few months, “said Jacinta Gilkes of Upper Castle.

“We have to buy two and three boxes of bottled water every week. When you wash clothes, they look rusty, and it is very inconvenient when you want to cook. in most cases we have to go out and buy food.”

Gilkes’ sister Nicole Nowell added that the discolouration varied, explaining there were days when the water looked like the colour of whisky, ginger ale, orange juice or mauby. However, she said she did not know how widespread the issue was in St Peter.

Another resident, Theodore Boyce, was also upset that he could not fully enjoy the holiday season because of dirty water from the tap. He said the water was discoloured at least three days a week. 

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