The water woes of 3,500 residents of Hampshire and Riversdale in North East St. Catherine, will soon be relegated to the past, following the groundbreaking for Phase 1 of the J$330 million Hampshire/Riversdale Water Supply Project.
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Matthew Samuda, who addressed the groundbreaking ceremony in Riversdale yesterday (January 29, 2025), noted that J$60 million will be expended on Phase 1, which is expected to last four months.
“This is a clear signal to you… that work begins now, and we are sequencing our work to ensure that there is no break between the particular phases”, he said.
The water supply to the community had been unreliable for several years as the former source had dried up. A new source, the Hamwalk/Redwood Water Supply System will be used to supply Riversdale/Hampshire, and a separate pipeline will be run from that source to interconnect with the existing pipeline into the community.
The project will include the installation of a galvanized iron and PVC transmission pipeline; a PVC distribution pipeline; a 30,000-gallon reinforced concrete sump; a 100,000-gallon bolted steel storage tank and the installation of a solar (two-way power hybrid) pumping system.
In the meantime, Minister Samuda highlighted other investments to be made in the water sector.
“Rural Water will be expending close to J$ 1 billion a year for the next three years, on small rural water systems in order to connect residents in these areas who are outside of the utility footprint. Rural Water, this calendar year, will commence the long-awaited Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) project which will see an unprecedented J$6 billion invested into 5 major rural water systems”, he stated.
The National Works Agency, he said, is also investing J$5 billion in partnership with the National Water Commission (NWC), to relay water pipes in effecting the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) Programme. Meanwhile, the National Housing Trust (NHT) will be investing several billion dollars into the water and other infrastructure networks of several of the older communities in Jamaica, while the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, over the next three years, will invest more than J$3 billion in water systems.
Turning to the NWC, Minister Samuda said the primary water provider is midway through J$4 billion of investments and this year, will undertake two of the largest investments in the country’s history namely, the US$92 million Rio Cobre Water System which will benefit citizens from Spanish Town to Kingston and St. Andrew, as well as the Western Water Resilience Programme.
“We expect to invest some J$15 billion over the next 18 months in that major pipeline from Martha Brae all the way to St. James, and from the Great River all the way to Western Westmoreland and all the communities along that main will benefit”
Minister Samuda indicated that all of the projects are fully funded, without debt being incurred by the country.
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