Cabinet Approves PPP Arrangement For Water Plant In St. Catherine

The National Water Commission (NWC) will be increasing its water production capacity to meet the needs of the Corporate Area.

This follows Cabinet’s approval for the entity to enter into a 25-year public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement with Vinci Construction Grands Projets, Eppley Limited and Jamaica Producers Group Limited to establish a 15-million-gallon-per-day water treatment plant in Content, St. Catherine.

The agreement is to design, finance, construct, own, operate and transfer the facility.

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, made the disclosure during Wednesday’s (May 19) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

She informed that the NWC is required to supply an average of 55 million gallons of water per day to meet the requirements in Kingston and St. Andrew (KSA) during the dry seasons.

She noted that under the current water production conditions, only 28 million gallons per day are available for distribution in KSA during the dry seasons, representing a shortfall of approximately 27 million gallons.

To reduce the shortfall between water demand and supply in the medium-term, the NWC has sought to implement various initiatives, including the procurement of the plant at Content.

Ms. Williams said that the project, when completed, is expected to result in significant improvement in water supply in KSA.