$251 Million Allocated for Rural Water Supply Project

The National Water Commission (NWC) has received $251 million towards the Major Rural Water Supply Project, details of which are given in the 2007/08 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House.
This project, which is funded by the Government and the European Economic Community, seeks to improve the quantity and quality of water supplied to the residents within the communities of Christiana, Spaldings, Hope Bay, St. Margaret’s Bay, Milk River and Shettlewood.
The sum allotted in this financial year will be used to complete the construction of the Hope Bay Scheme (Phase 2), and the Shettlewood water supply scheme. Initiated in December 1998, the project is expected to end in January 2008, with initial targets being the expansion and rehabilitation of four pilot schemes, in order to reduce unaccounted for water through leakage detection. The schemes targeted were Milk River, Hope Bay, Christiana and Shettlewood.
Achievements to date include the completion of the Milk River, Christiana and Spaldings schemes, and Phase one of the Hope Bay scheme; the completion of engineering design, the completion of the supply of materials and the purchase of lands to accommodate treatment plants and reservoirs.