Improved Access to Water Supply for Westmoreland Communities
By: , July 15, 2022
Photo: Serena Grant
The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development will be undertaking electrification and water supply projects in Chamber’s Pen, Hanover. “In another couple of weeks, I will be signing the contract for [electrical] installation of 150 households in Chamber’s Pen and another 150 [communities] between the Corporate Area and Portland,” portfolio Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, told JIS News. The installation works will be undertaken as part of the Ministry’s Rural Electrification Programme (REP) being spearheaded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF). The programme aims to extend electricity to rural Jamaica as part of measures to stimulate economic and social activity, and improve the quality of life in rural communities. So far, several rural areas across the island have been benefiting from the project. Chamber’s Pen will also be the focus of a major water supply project. “An extensive amount of work [will be done] to bring water to the community… and that will be done by Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL),” Minister McKenzie said, while addressing a water supply commissioning ceremony in Top Aberdeen in St. Elizabeth, recently. Chamber’s Pen is the pilot community under the Ministry’s $650-million Rural Development Programme. The programme, which will create temporary and permanent employment opportunities across the country, includes the installation of water, electricity, Internet access, roads, sidewalks, community parks and indigent housing. -30-The Full Story
Hundreds of residents of communities in Westmoreland are to see improvement in access to water supply.
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, said that come September, the Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL) will commence the rehabilitation and upgrading of the storage system in Ashton.
“This is a catchment tank in the community and it is expected that over 600 persons within that community will benefit from this upgrading of the water system at a cost of $10 million,” he said, noting that the project is expected to be completed in November.
The Minister was addressing a disaster preparedness town hall meeting hosted by the Ministry at the Whitehall Community Centre in Westmoreland on July 14.
Over in Moreland Hill, he said that water tanks will be installed in the community while the Ministry explores a major project, working with the RWSL and the National Water Commission (NWC), to bring water to the area.
“It is going to take some time but on a short-term basis, we are going to be installing in Moreland Hill, 10 water tanks that will carry 2,000 gallons of water to that community until we have completed the major work that is required,” he noted.
The Minister also shared that the trucking of water to Westmoreland communities will commence shortly, emphasising that this is free of cost.
The Ministry’s work to improve water supply in Westmoreland has been ongoing, with the completion of a water harvesting system at the Bath Mountain Primary School at a cost of $4.6 million, which also serves the surrounding community.
The Content and Little Bay primary schools have also benefitted from water system improvements to benefit their respective communities, at a cost of $10 million.