New NWC Office to be Constructed in Mandeville

A $60 million contract is to be signed soon for the construction of a new National Water Commission (NWC) office on Ward Avenue in Mandeville, Manchester. This was announced by Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, during a tour of several NWC projects in Manchester on September 15.
“This facility should lead to higher staff morale, while at the same time our valued customers will have a very comfortable place to conduct their business,” he argued. “Our expectation is for the project to be completed in a little over a year after we have broken ground,” Dr. Ferguson added.
The State Minister pointed out that his visit to the parish was a continuation of tours he has been conducting islandwide to view NWC projects being undertaken to provide adequate water for the people. “We looked at the situation down at Melrose Mews housing project and also the greater Mandeville water supply scheme as well as the Christiana/Spaldings project, which is still ongoing,” he said.
Dr. Ferguson said that in recent times, Melrose has been featured as a community that was experiencing some amount of difficulties with water supply.
“So far we have spent over $30 million trying to solve this difficulty, which we are gradually getting on top of, given the fact that we now have an agreement with the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC). A 100,000 gallon tank is to be installed and we feel that this project will be of benefit to more than 3,000 persons who reside in the area, in the next six months,” he said.
The State Minister indicated that for the greater Mandeville water supply scheme, over $150 million has been earmarked for upgrading of the system.
“This water that comes to Mandeville is high cost, as it has to be pumped from Pepper, St. Elizabeth all the way up Spur Tree Hill and into the town as well as from Porus. What our efforts have shown is that we need to get an additional source of water, and so we now have identified a new well site at Goshen, which has a two million gallons per day capacity,” he noted.
The State Minister pointed out that initial work has started on the project, with the estimated completion date being January 2008.
“In relation to the Christiana/Spaldings water system, which is nearing completion, we estimate that some 20,000 persons should benefit directly, with the overall cost being $165 million,” he said.