?? |
| BWA General Manager, Denis Yearwood making a point to Minister, Dr. David Estwick while (from left to right) Senior Engineer, Luther Jordan; Manager of Engineering, Dr. John Mwanza; and Board Chairman, Dr. Atlee Brathwaite (partially hidden) listen in. (A. Skeete/BGIS)?? |
Businesses in the City and residents of Lakes Folly and surrounding districts will soon be in for some relief from some of the wastewater issues affecting them.
This assurance has come from Minister of Water Resource Management, Dr. David Estwick, who was speaking following a tour of the Barbados Water Authority’s (BWA) Bridgetown Wastewater Treatment Plant on Wednesday.
He stressed that several options were on the table to enhance the service offered by the facility, while resolving some of the issues being experienced by the plant’s customers.
"We have had complaints from a number of companies in Bridgetown regarding backups within the sewerage system…We have identified a number of areas where we can quickly rectify, enhance or totally resolve the problems that are now being experienced by the workers in Bridgetown and the surrounding districts. However, there are some other issues that will require more medium-term solutions."
Dr. Estwick added that implementation of an ongoing maintenance programme and having the appropriately trained staff to manage that process would go a long way to ensuring the facility operated at peak efficiency.
He pointed out that Barbadians too must play their part to ensure they did not exacerbate the problem.
"The backup comes from the fact that many persons put stuff in the sewerage system that they should not and this causes some problems at the facility. There is also a major problem with grease accumulation, when it becomes solid can obstruct many of the pipes, and is particularly problematic with pipes in low lying areas…This creates major problems such as backups in the various workplaces or homes which can create strong odours and pipe breakage as well," the Water Resources Minister maintained.
Dr. Estwick disclosed that the BWA was exploring the best possible solutions to deal with blockage and to flush the pipes within the greater Bridgetown area.
"We have already sent out to tender two or three specialised trucks that would have the capability of doing the flushing, which would enhance our maintenance capability. That will go to the [Barbados Water Authority] Board shortly but actually getting the vehicles will take about eight months because they are specially created. So, within that period of time we have to create the maintenance facilities in house or maybe outsource to get the problem solved," the Minister said.