Press conference re: COVID-19 and national cleanup updates – April 16, 2021. (PMO)

Government is using minimum water from the Barbados Water Authority’s distribution network to clean the Grantley Adams International Airport and other major arteries.

Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams, gave this assurance today as he addressed concerns of the public about the source of the water used in the national clean-up exercise, following the April 9 eruption of the La Soufriere volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“We were using sea water to wash as many things as we could.  Bridgetown was cleaned entirely with water pulled from the Wharf, as was Swan Street. A large section of the airport was cleaned with seawater as well, [but] we could not clean the runway itself with salt water…

“So, the runway had to use a different plan. After we broke up the hard dust with the trucks, the bulk of what was used at the airport on the runway was actually recycled water from the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment plant and also the Coverley Sewage Plant. That water was chlorinated and treated to make it safe and that was then used,” he explained.

Mr. Abrahams stressed that minimal water from the Barbados Water Authority’s distribution network was used in cleaning up the airport and the roads, adding that Government was placing great thought in its actions.

However, the Home Affairs Minister encouraged residents to continue sending their suggestions to assist Government in the way forward because they may have an idea that was not considered.

“We are happy to consider it because there is no pride in this right now. This is a learning curve for all of us, and the aim is to just to get Barbados as clean as possible, as quickly as possible,” he said.

julia.rawlins-bentham@barbados.gov.bb

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