Jackson, MS Mayor Antar Lumumba / Facebook
*Residents of Jackson, Mississippi, are used to water stoppages and boil water notices followed by apologies from state officials. The residents say they have had enough and are “tired of apologies.”
Some residents still currently have no running water after the area experienced sub-freezing temperatures resulting in frozen and busted pipes. Following this, they were asked to go to one of four locations across the city to get water on Tuesday afternoon.
The citizens say they’re “tired of apologies” from state officials regarding the constant water stoppages and boil water notices. Jackson Mayor Antar Lumumba it’s unknown when the stoppage will cease.
“I have spoken to residents who are tired of apologies,” he told the reporters, referring to Jackson residents. He added that there is no way to prevent what is happening to the city’s water treatment facility.
“We do not control Mother Nature,” he explained. “We are dealing with an old and crumbling system that continues to offer challenge after challenge.”
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On Christmas Day, the city issued a boil-water notice and asked residents to turn off faucets and check businesses for water leaks and broken pipes. The mayor expressed his gratitude to the crews busy searching the city for water main breaks and busted pipes as the city, state, and federal officials continue looking for solutions to the city’s severely outdated water infrastructure.
According to Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Armon, some fire stations in the city lack running water but, ironically, the same fire stations have 500 gallons on hand in each unit to fight fires.
This is certainly not the last time the city will be dealing with water infrastructure. It has been going on for years. As recently as September, many Black businesses in the Jackson area were affected when severe rain and flooding shut down a water treatment plant in Jackson.
But how did the Jackson water infrastructure issues start? It is a systemic racism matter; the city experienced white flight, with white residents leaving for suburban areas. As a result, the city’s population went down 25% between 1980 and 2020. Jackson’s population is currently 83% Black. Lumumba earlier this year called the Mississippi Legislature “paternalistic” and “racist” after it ignored the infrastructure needs of its majority Black capital city.
Jackson has a budget of $400 million. It will require more than $2 billion to solve its water and sewage problems.
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