Chairman of North Antrim DUP, John Finlay, has thanked all the staff at N.I. Water for their work so far but urged the company to do more.
He has spoken of his concerns after people are left queuing for water like in some third world country. The area most affected is Ballymena.
Speaking today John Finlay said:
"I am grateful for all the work that staff at N.I Water have done so far, especially those manning the call centres and those engineers working on the ground to reconnect water supplies.
I am however concerned that more cannot be done. It is my understanding that N.I. Water are not using all the resources available to them, such as local contractors. It is my belief that there are contractors in the North Antrim area that are not being used and are sitting feeling useless.
We in Northern Ireland have experienced the worst cold snap for twenty-five years. Burst pipes and the inability of homes to get water is a product of the arctic temperatures we experienced last week. N.I. Water should have been better prepared for this and had engineers on standby.
It is appalling in this day and age that so many homes are unable to get water to drink, wash, or flush toilets. I call on N.I. Water to make use of all those contractors available to them to ensure that homes are connected to water supply as soon as possible.
People are literally queuing for water in and around Ballymena and the supermarket shelves have been cleared of any water due to demand. I urge for calm but also for a response from N.I. Water."
