DLP wants more details about measures to ease water woes

Democratic Labour Party Vice President and spokesperson on Agriculture and the Environment, Andre Worrell, is calling on the Mia Mottley administration to provide more details on some of the short term measures announced earlier this week to ease the water woes in some parishes.

Worrell referred to Mottley’s address on April 22 in which she announced the importation of bottled water from Guyana and up to 2.5 million gallons of water weekly from Dominica.

“The long-term measure announced was a renegotiation of the contract to build a permanent desalination plant.  The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) supports this approach as it was one of the recommendations offered in our press release on the 16th April 2021,” he said in a new release.

“However, the short-term measures presented during the address were short on details. It was not clear whether the government intends to import bottled water for distribution to affected households or if they will be importing the water in bulk to be distributed to households in Barbados.  Given the extent to which this water crisis has spread across Barbados, the DLP would like clarification on the following:

Will the Government of Barbados be importing bottled water or water in bulk?
What mechanism will be used to distribute this water to affected households?
What testing protocols will be put in place for the imported bulk water?
What is the cost of a shipment of water from Guyana and Dominica?
How long does the government anticipate they will continue to import water to meet the demands in Barbados?
What is the overall budget for this water relief project?
Based on the projected volume of water which will be imported weekly, what quantity will be allocated to each affected household on a weekly basis?

The DLP will support measures that can effectively address the water woes facing this country.  Our approach would be two-pronged aimed at bringing immediate relief, while at the same time, implementing long term solutions to eradicate these challenges in the shortest possible time.  However, given the profound impact which these water woes have on the livelihood of the persons affected as well as the impact on the economy these issues should not be glossed over.

The relief measures should also take into consideration the needs of farmers and entrepreneurs in the affected areas.  Has the Government assessed the water woes situation to establish the number of persons and households currently being affected?  This assessment would be necessary for a proper temporary water distribution system to be effective.