Hunter
The Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA), which has been over the years plagued by inadequate
water, could have its thirst quenched in just a few months to come.
According to president of the National Water Commission (NWC), E.G. Hunter, the NWC recently signed a loan agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for US$60 million (J$3.9 billion) to replace the majority of old pipe lines in the KMA.
Additionally, the NWC will rehabilitate the existing water treatment plants at Mona, Hope and Constant Spring, to get them back to optimum production levels. The commission also plans to insulate pressure zones.
"What we want to do is reestablish the original pressure zones in Kingston and St. Andrew because water cascades from Constant Spring and Long Lane all the way down to Spanish Town Road, sometimes in an uncoordinated manner," Mr. Hunter said during a press briefing on Monday. Physical work on these initiatives will begin by year-end.
Additional
relief
Further relief for the scarcity of water in the KMA will be addressed as plans to construct a desalination plant in the area of Ferry are also in the pipeline.
"A lot of water is behind the Ferry Police Station ... So the idea is to do a desalination plant ... Again a desalination plant produces expensive water ... So the IDB project will address the distribution system and then shortly thereafter, we will do the desalination plant to address additional flows," Mr. Hunter said.
The NWC boss also said plans were in place to desilt the Hermitage Dam, to provide an additional 25 days of water, which along with the Ferry desalination plant, will complement the IDB project.
