Straughn ‘seeking solution’ to sewage system struggles

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn has told lawmakers that the government is in the process of finding a permanent fix to the south coast sewage system, while ensuring that the Graeme Hall wetland is restored and protected.

As he introduced the Debt (Natural Disaster and Pandemic Deferment of Payment) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill in the House of Assembly, he also responded to public concerns that the government was seeking to recycle wastewater by treating it and returning it to the aquifers.

Straughn said he was calling on the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) to “go into overdrive” in informing the public of how water is currently being recycled on the island.

He said he wanted the BWA to explain to residents “exactly what happens when you flush your toilet or you take a shower, when you wash your hands at the sink, where that water goes and then how it is treated when it comes back into your same pipe for you to do what you have to do”.

Recalling that the Government was able to put a stop to the South Coast sewage crisis of 2017/2018, Struaghn said: “We have been searching for five years for a permanent solution to the south coast sewage plant.

“You would appreciate that between there you had COVID and a whole set of things that caused us not to be able to find the right type of financing to be able to deal with it. We have created a temporary solution but we recognise that we need a permanent solution.”

BWA officials indicated on Monday that they were in the process of developing a water and sanitation master plan that would include the recycling of waste water.

Straughn said the practice of treating wastewater and returning it to the system was nothing new, as he explained that the water from most households and businesses was currently filtered into the aquifers and then treated by the BWA.

“When we flush our toilets, we wash our hands [and] we take a bath, everything goes into the well. It percolates and finds its way through the limestone into the aquifers. That happens in every single house in Barbados today, unless you are hooked up to some fancy sewage system,” he said.

“So when people are walking ‘bout saying the government wants to put ‘sugar honey ice-tea’ into the aquifers, it is sad because it means you don’t even understand how ordinary people in this country [are] living when the day comes.”

Saying that the concern being raised was an attempt to discredit the BWA and the work it has been doing over the years, Straughn gave the assurance that the water being extracted from the aquifers was being carefully treated before it goes back through the taps in households and businesses.

Noting that Barbados was severely water scarce and that “every day we are discharging three, four or five million gallons of water out to sea” while having to endure water restriction, Straughn said “people need to understand that if you do not manage and make decisions for the long-term sustainable development of this country then we will be doing our people a disservice”.

He added that in addition to recovering the approximately four million gallons of water to replenish the aquifers, some of it will be used for agriculture purposes.

“If you want food and nutrition security in the country, farmers need access to water and that is something we have committed to doing and we will execute,” he said.

Straughn gave the assurance that in addition to the upgrade of the South Coast Sewage Treatment Plant, efforts were also being made to restore the nearby Graeme Hall wetland, which has become a source of concern for environmentalists and residents in the area in recent times.

He said: “You would recall that the issues of the discharge of the sewage in the Graeme Hall swamp that caused issues related to biodiversity and the way the swamp was being managed,” Straughn told the House.”The swamp is not necessarily fully back to where it was prior to when the last government allowed the sewage to go in there indiscriminately.

“We are making every effort to restore, not just the mangrove but the biodiversity of everything that is there in a reasonable and sustainable way with respect to how we manage those very fragile resources and ecosystems that are there.”

Making it clear that the sewage plant to be built on the south coast would be a tertiary treatment facility, Straughn said this would put an end to sewage being pumped out to sea and as a result, the island’s marine area “would be enhanced over time”.

“This is going to solve multiple problems,” he told fellow parliamentarians. “Part of what we are contemplating now is a debt for climate swap, which will see us facilitate the construction of the upgrade of that plant without the government having to spend an extra cent.” (MM)