Just one day before the staging of 'The Official and Original Water Party', set to be held at the Sagicor Parking lot tomorrow, many Jamaicans are still upset at the promoters' decision to host the event in light of the current drought.

The Water Party, usually held around carnival season, is an event where patrons are doused with water spraying from a truck at the location.

This year, however, patrons are not too enthused with the idea of the party, since severe water restrictions have been placed on many communities all over the island. Most of the island's catchment facilities are well below capacity because of a lack of rainfall. Many, including the founders of a group on the social networking siteFacebook, believe the promoters of the event are unconscionable.

The group, named 'No water at wata party. We are in a damn drought', has 119 members. The description section of the group's page says, "We are currently at a point where most of Kingston is unable to get water for more than two hours a day. With this said, it is very irresponsible of the promoters and the sponsors of this event 'WATA PARTY' to be throwing away this commodity for the sake of frolicking. I call on the promoters to think beyond their pockets and sponsors to think beyond sales! Remember, water is life."

One member of the group also aired his disagreement through a wall post stating, "Why should hundreds of gallons of water be made available for a few to frolic in while a large portion have challenges using it for day to day uses? That's a show of disrespect to our fellow man."

In a release issued yesterday, the promoters of the event sought to reassure customers that they were very much concerned about the water shortage and had made adjustments to the event accordingly. The release said, "We were cognisant of the difficulties facing the NWC and residents of the corporate area and as such, recognized from early that we would have to shift the focus from a heavy dependency on water."

The promoters also advised that they had, "gone out of town and purchased water from a private source owned by Matrix Engineering so as not to impact upon the NWC sources. So while there may be a reduction in the amount of water, patrons can rest assured that this won't be negatively impacting on our present water crisis."

Corporate Public Relations Manager at the National Water Commission, Charles Buchanan, said while the NWC had no control over the use of other sources, he did not believe the use of water for a party was appropriate.

He said, "The prohibition notice only applies to NWC resources, but I can see why persons would be annoyed (by the party). It's a psychological thing."