By April next year, staff of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) will be moving into their new, state-of-the-art headquarters at the Pine, St. Michael.

This was disclosed during a tour of the facility this morning by Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management, Dr. David Estwick, officials from the Ministry, the BWA and contractors of Innotech Services Limited.

Project Manager for the new Barbados Water Authority Headquarters, Stephen Lindo, stated that the project which was being constructed at approximately 63 million dollars was within budget and on schedule.

He noted that the building was to be completed by April 2015, but was now expected to be finished by January 2015. Staff are expected to move into the facility in April 2015.

The new facility will feature an administration building, a general store, workmen???s facility, a cafeteria, children???s area, gym, training room and a dispatch office. It will also include a service facility and fuel dispensing station, covered parking, a guard hut and a recreational building.

The Project Manager stated that the facility would also feature energy saving devices, including external lights to be powered by solar energy.

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. David Estwick praised the management of the BWA and contractors Innotech Services Limited, as well as everyone involved in the project, for the time frame in which the project is expected to be completed.

He added that the new facility would allow staff to function more effectively and efficiently since the majority of the departments would be housed under one roof, and, because of the social aspects being offered at the headquarters.

???A modern building is not just modern in terms of ITC??? but it is modern in terms of the services that it provides to its staff, and we believe very strongly that you get better production when you have staff who are comfortable in the area where they work.

???For the first time you will have staff members having their own lockers, having a proper cafeteria, having their own facilities to change, having recreational facilities and having sports facilities. That must improve without a doubt the overall capabilities for the staff to function, to work together, build together, build relationships together and also build relationships with management,??? he added.

The new headquarters is situated on nine acres of land, with the total building site on 80,000 square feet.

aisha.reid@barbados.gov.bb

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