The Sandy Ground, Connors, and Ginger Ridge communities in West Central St. Catherine, are now receiving piped water formally for the first time from the National Water Commission (NWC).
This follows yesterday’s (October 11) official commissioning of the Connors-Ginger Ridge pipeline project by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda.
The project, that was implemented at a cost of $94 million, involved the construction of a 13,000-gallon sump and elevated pumping station and other pipelines of various lengths from Connors to Ginger Ridge to serve approximately 1,450 residents of the communities.
The project, which was constructed by Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL), in partnership with the NWC, also involved the construction of a 10,000-gallon Concrete Tank at Ginger Ridge, and the rehabilitation of a 5,000-gallon Steel Tank at Sandy Ground.
Minister Samuda noted that the investment is one that the Government is proud of, as it seeks to meet its 2030 goals of increasing access to potable water for all Jamaicans.
“This is a step into the 21st century. This is new pipelines, this is new storage capacity, this is new processing capacity. The government is committed to an all-island overhaul of our water systems to significantly increase the capacity of these systems, and to ensure that all of our citizens are able to look past the basic standard of living”, the Minister stated.
Some sections of the area benefitted from a parochial piped water system for decades, but the residents will now receive a 7-day water supply through the 9km of transmission and distribution line.
Water will be sourced from the spring source into the pumping network which has a design capacity of 50,000 gallons of water per day. Treated water will be pumped to the Sandy Ground tank and the Ginger Ridge tank facilities for distribution and connections were installed at homes in Connors and Ginger Ridge.
Under the RWSL and the NWC partnership, the rainwater harvesting system at the Ginger Ridge Primary School will also be upgraded to facilitate access to the NWC’s potable water network.
Minister Samuda pointed to the need for “hundreds more” of these systems, especially given the impacts of climate change, noting that over the last year, Jamaica experienced one of the worst droughts in its history.
“The concept of climate change is not a foreign concept, it’s not a future concept, it’s one that we’re living. Our adaptation cost for water is in excess of US$3 billion so when you hear the NWC ask that you formalize your connections and pay your water bill, it is in recognition that we are in a race against time to achieve our development goals, but we’re also in a race against time to make sure that we build in the resilience to not just connect everybody but to make sure our water sources are protected”, the Minister explained.
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