Projects Under Way To Strengthen National Water Access

The Ministry of Water, Environment and Climate Change is advancing several major initiatives to ensure universal access to water for all Jamaicans, in keeping with the 2019 National Water Sector Policy and Implementation Plan.

This policy, which updates the 2014 framework, reflects the goals of the Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan for Water.

Senior Director in the Ministry’s Water Policy and Monitoring Branch, Talia Gibson, tells JIS News that the projects are being implemented as part of Jamaica’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Projects that are being implemented by the Ministry through its agencies include the Rio Cobre Water Treatment Plant in Content, St. Catherine, which is an ongoing project that should be completed by May 2027,” she says.

The facility is projected to supply approximately 15 million gallons of water per day, benefiting more than 600,000 residents.

“We’re also undertaking the Western Parishes Resilience Improvement Programme, which, in phase one, replaced metal insulation of transmission mains from Falmouth, Trelawny to St. James, and from St. James to Negril, Westmoreland. This will provide much needed upgraded water resources to the western parishes,” Ms. Gibson notes.

The Ministry has also embarked on a National Drought Mitigation Programme, through which 50,000 water tanks will be distributed over a five-year period.

“The programme commenced in the 2024/25 [financial year] with phase one [where] over 9,000 water tanks have been delivered to beneficiaries across the island through their respective Members of Parliament. Phase two will be undertaken in financial year 2026/27,” Ms. Gibson informs.

Managing Director of the Water Resources Authority (WRA), an agency of the Ministry, Peter Clarke, emphasises that equity remains the ultimate goal of the initiatives.

“The idea is to, through these initiatives, bring forward water projects so that everybody will have access to water because it is a mandate that we’ve given ourselves as a country. We’ve embedded it in our Water Sector Policy, [and] the fact that it is embedded means that we do take it seriously. Equality for us would mean that [those who previously lacked access will now be included]… and everybody will have water in a consistent manner,” he adds.

To support this goal, Mr. Clarke noted that plans are under way to expand water storage capacity, including the construction of an additional reservoir and the extension of the Hermitage Reservoir system.

“A major part of the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) will benefit from that. The fact is, our largest population centre is right here in the KMA, and those demands are there, the needs are there… with the influx of construction activity, among other things,” he points out.

The Managing Director highlights the long-standing disparities in water access between rural and urban areas, noting that these inequities are now being prioritised for resolution.

“Our rural areas have been underserved. So, we have programmes to build out [and have] more water going into these areas, to give us more resilience,” he says.

Under the Western Parishes Resilience Improvement Programme, water will be abstracted from the Martha Brae River in Trelawny, the Roaring River in Westmoreland, and the Great River in St. James to strengthen resilience across western Jamaica.

“The whole programme will harness more water from these rivers. We’ve done studies and know that the rivers can support the further increase in abstraction. It is just a matter of getting the distribution out properly so that the water will be there,” Mr. Clarke says.

Several other projects are also advancing, with a focus on coastal areas, which the Managing Director notes are home to many of the island’s capital towns.

“We have realised that there’s need to expand the network along the coast. So that is why under the Western Parishes Resilience Improvement Programme, we’re going to be [extending coverage] all the way to Negril. We will be pulling water out of the Roaring River to get [supply] in, from Savanna-la-Mar all the way back to Negril,” Mr. Clarke says.

He adds that expansion efforts are under way along the northern corridor, with the aim of eventually creating a well-integrated network stretching from Negril to nearly Port Maria.

“That would mean that you’ll be serving a large demand base, and that is critical for our continued economic growth,” Mr. Clarke further states.