Patients and staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) had to depend on water tankers deployed by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) after a large main at Jemmott’s Lane collapsed.
Distribution Manager Ovid Moore told Barbados TODAY the rupture occurred around 6:30 Sunday morning, prompting a massive response from the country’s lone water company. According to reports, a buildup of pressure was responsible for the breach.
The team tasked with repairing the over 100-year-old main was accompanied by three large water tankers.
Minister of Energy and Water Resource Management, Wilfred Abrahams who was on the scene promised the problem would be fixed in short order.
“While you can have a situation where other people are without water, the QEH cannot be without a supply of potable water because it is our primary healthcare facility,” Abrahams declared.
He revealed BWA personnel have been stretched thin responding to numerous challenges across the country but admitted the critical situation would require all hands on deck.
In addition to the challenge of access to water, Abrahams stressed the road infrastructure had been significantly compromised and the situation was very unsafe. The road has been closed indefinitely and Abrahams is pleading with Barbadians to give the BWA and law enforcement their full support.
“If you see that police have closed off a road and you see people with heavy equipment, it is not simply to make your lives difficult…When you have water and you have electricity and you have an excavator and a crane swinging…just respect those who are pushing hard to do something for you and don’t just think about your own convenience.
“There are a number of cracks running right along the area where the burst occurred, so it is not just an issue of backfilling and filling back up the road. The Ministry of Transport and Works is going to have to come here and inspect. Their engineers will have to come here and give the all-clear for the road to be reopened because we don’t want a situation where the road is reopened and a car drops in,” he said. (KS)
