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| BWA Chairman, Dr. Atlee Brathwaite (second left) and Chairman of Potable Water Supply Inc., Burton Ward sealing the contract signing with a handshake while Minister with responsibility for Water Resource Management, Dr. David Estwick (centre) and Deputy Permanent Secretary, Lennox Chandler (left) look on. (C.Pitt/BGIS)?? |
The St. Philip Water Augmentation Project is one step closer to fruition, following the signing of the contract between the Barbados Government and Potable Water Supply Incorporated today.
Minister with responsibility for Water Resource Management, Dr. David Estwick, explained that the project, which was conceptualised by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) and Potable Water Supply Inc., some three years ago, aims to alleviate a potable water shortage in St. Philip and Christ Church.
Speaking during today’s signing ceremony at his Graeme Hall office, the Minister pointed out that reports from the Town and Country Development Planning Office had suggested that in 10 years some 14,000 lots in that area would require access to water.
According to Dr. Estwick, the BWA would be unable to service the expanding area with its present infrastructure and limited access to water and therefore, the Water Augmentation Project would go a long way in ensuring relief for the growing population of St. Philip and Christ Church.
"The project will seek to access new water within that catchment area via drilling a series of wells. Once we can access the water, the appropriate storage and pumping mechanisms would be put in place to tie that into the present infrastructure, so that water can be effectively distributed to the area," the Minister said.
Chairman of Potable Water Supply Inc., Burton Ward, estimated that the Augmentation Project would provide access to some 3 million gallons of new water per day.
"This would not impact on the present abstraction points of the Barbados Water Authority in the St. Philip area. That amount of water would support approximately 10, 000 households of four persons per household, so it goes a long way in dealing with the challenges that the Barbados Water Authority and Country Planning face.
"We intend to employ an aggressive drilling programme, using new technologies and techniques and we are looking forward to a transfer of technology as well, over the course of the project to the Barbados Water Authority and its personnel," Mr. Ward pointed out.