Patterson BLUEFIELDS, Westmoreland:
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson and other government officials toured the Bluefields/White-house water project last Friday.
Water and Housing Minister Karl Blythe was among the touring party and he said that the visit was the last before its completion. He said that Whitehouse and its environs suffered from inadequate supply of water to meet the demands of ongoing developments. He mentioned the housing project now in progress and the Beaches Whitehouse Hotel which he said will begin construction soon.
He added that the completion date for phase one of this project is January 2001 and it will cost in excess of $150 million. The system will provide 1.5 million gallons of water daily, while the present requirement is 1.1 to 1.2 million gallons daily. Phase two of this project will start in January 2001 and should be completed within twelve months.
Phase two, Minister Blythe said, will involve getting water from Dalentova wells in St. Elizabeth and this will join the Whitehouse/Bluefields project. He said that this phase will cost $120 million.
Last Friday's tour started at the water source in Bluefields. Minister Blythe updated the Prime Minister on the work in progress there. The Prime Minister and his touring party then travelled by road to Whitehouse and he stopped at times along the way to test the pressure of the water.
The PM and the touring party were taken up into the hills of Whitehouse at a community called Gordon where they looked at two completed storage tanks.
These, Minister Blythe said, will ensure that Whitehouse and its environs have a continuous supply of water.
