$8.1 Million Contract Signed for Upgrading of Water System in St. Catherine

Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Horace Chang, on Thursday (Jan. 24) signed a contract valued at $8.1 million for the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Goldmine water supply system in West Central St. Catherine.
The project, which will entail the laying of three kilometres of pipelines and refurbishing of the Marlie Hill reservoir, will benefit approximately 3, 500 households in the communities of Blue Hole, Belfield, Marlie Hill and Brown’s Hall.
Bacchus Engineering Works Limited is the contractor for the project, which is expected to begin early February and last for eight weeks.
Dr. Chang, in his remarks at the signing ceremony held at the Church of the Nazarene in St. Catherine, said that the project is part of the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) water improvement programme. “This (KMA programme) is dedicated to dealing with improvement to treatment plants, rehabilitating a number of wells and improvement to the distribution systems, which would bring additional supply and greater reliability to KMA,” he outlined.
Minister Chang said that the government is also looking at other water improvement works in St. Catherine.
“We have intentions of improving and expanding the Buxton Town and Kitson Town area. We’ve started some minor works and in the new financial year, we will proceed to bring that system up because that is the main system that is going to impact on the area as far as Point Hill. We’re looking at an expenditure of some $700 million but that (project) is earmarked as a priority,” he said.