Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda says two medium-term projects are to be implemented under the Western Water Resilience Programme at a cost of US$160 million.
Updating stakeholders during a Stakeholder meeting on Water Resilience in Western Jamaica, at the Grand Palladium in Hanover yesterday (May 29, 2024), Minister Samuda said the projects are part of a carefully crafted suite of investments, aimed at increasing the resilience of the western section of the island in the face of a changing climate and erratic weather patterns.
He noted that the first project involves the upgrading of the transmission mains from the Martha Brae Treatment Plant to the Terminal Reservoir.
“From the Martha Brae Treatment Plant to the Terminal Reservoir is line one, that we intend to replace with a larger carrying capacity and a new modern line that hopefully will give us 40 to 50 years of reliable transmission of water from Martha Brae into Terminal. That will reduce some of the pressures from Great River which then pumps East, because Martha Brae is able to produce more water. We will be asking the WRA (Water Resources Authority) to increase the license for all of our extraction points within what is (considered) safe and healthy for these water systems” the Minister explained.
Minister Samuda further noted that the increase in supply from Martha Brae to Montego Bay, will further reduce the pressure on the Great River system.
“So that pipeline being reliable and reducing your NRW (Non-Revenue Water) significantly in St. James, will have a benefit as far as West End and the people that are served by Bulstrode” the Minister noted.
He added that the second project, would address the line from Lucea into Logwood.
“That line will be replaced and upgraded as well, but that’s not the first part that has to be done to reduce the significant leakage that you have. So, the works will start in Lucea and will go all the way to the western end of Negril. What that will do, is allow Great River to supplement what is a system in crisis, which is the Logwood System, because you will have one straight flow that allows for stronger supplies” he explained.
The Minister added that the pipes would be part of a greater (interlinked) system.
“This is a part of a greater concept that we have, which will build a bit of a ring road of pipes, so that whenever a system is low, you are able to supplement from another system, because as we are seeing with the rainfall data, it is very haphazard and it is becoming harder and harder to predict with the rate of climate change that we’re experiencing” the Minister stated.
Minister Samuda said the two lines will be done on a design and build contract, through direct contracting, because of the emergency circumstances.
He said that the phasing and Gantt Chart for the project, envisions four to six weeks of engineering which has started, with an initial expenditure of $32 million, adding that the Government has committed the resources to purchase and install the pipeline. The timeline for the project is 18 months.
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