Gov’t To Divest Soapberry Wastewater Treatment Plant

The Government will go to market this year to divest the Soapberry Wastewater Treatment Plant in St. Catherine.

Under the divestment arrangement, the plant’s capacity will be doubled and its operations upgraded from secondary to tertiary treatment.

This move is expected to deliver significant benefits for both the economy and the environment.

“Marine biologists will tell you— and they speak about Kingston Harbour pre- and post-Soapberry intervention— the Kingston Harbour can only truly be blue with tertiary treatment at the Soapberry Treatment Plant,” Minister of Water, Environment, and Climate Change, Hon. Matthew Samuda, said while making the announcement.

“So, it has a significant environmental benefit. But it also truly unlocks, between Spanish Town and Morant Bay, genuine capacity for real development,” he added.

The Minister was speaking at the REALTORS® Association of Jamaica’s Leaders in Real Estate Breakfast, held Thursday (February 26), at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.

The event, themed: ‘Strengthening Partnerships for a More Efficient, Transparent, and Sustainable Real Estate Sector’, was hosted by the Association.

Meanwhile, Minister Samuda noted that attention is also being directed to western Jamaica through the $28-billion Western Water Resilience Programme.

The project will strengthen Jamaica’s water security through major infrastructure upgrades.

It will involve the replacement and modernisation of transmission mains running from Martha Brae in Trelawny to Negril, spanning the border of Westmoreland and Hanover.

Additionally, works will extend from Runaway Bay in St. Ann to Savanna-la-Mar in Westmoreland, ensuring more reliable water distribution across multiple parishes.

Minister Samuda noted that the pipes required for the project have already been procured and are scheduled to be available by June.

“So, for all of those who are frustrated in Montego Bay, we assure them that the investment is already being made. We’ve made the deposits on the pipes, and they [are expected to] come in the first week of June,” he stated.

The programme will also boost water production at Martha Brae and the Great River treatment plants by 10 million gallons per day through comprehensive upgrades.

Additionally, two new treatment plants will be constructed— one for the Roaring River in Westmoreland, which will supply Savanna-la-Mar, and another at the Rio Bueno, located on the border between St. Ann and Trelawny.

“Distribution mains [in] the western end of the island… are being changed now. [For] the eastern end of the island, we’re already doing some of the work, in terms of those distribution mains. But we’re also building in the other elements… which are our treatment capacity as well as our storage capacity in those areas,” Mr. Samuda said.

While recognising the potential for temporary disruptions during implementation, Minister Samuda emphasised that these measures are essential to safeguarding Jamaica’s economic resilience and environmental sustainability.