Special water rates for farmers from May 1

Farmers will get water at a discounted rate from May 1, even as Government puts an end to some farmers paying rates from the 1970s and clamps down on people taking water from wells for free.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced in her Budget speech on Monday that farmers registered with the Ministry of Agriculture will access water at a standard rate of $1.80 per cubic metre, the equivalent of 220 gallons.

While the special rate will be an improvement for some farmers, she added that it would be an increase for a few.

“The truth is that there are some farmers who have been paying less – not many, not the majority, but they pay as a result of accessing water from BADMC [Barbados Agricultural Development Marketing Corporation] when it is available but, equally, it is not always available. And regrettably, there has been a build-up of arrears on that scheme even though the rate at that scheme has been 66 cents for 220 gallons of water and that rate has been in place from the early 1970s. That is unsustainable,”Mottley told Parliament.

She disclosed that the arrangement under which BADMC extracts water from wells it controls and sells to farmers will therefore come to an end on April 30, 2022.

Saying that it was imperative that Government set a standard rate for users in the agricultural sector “that accommodates the country’s objective of achieving food and nutritional security while also achieving fair and equitable growth”, Mottley added: “We believe that the rate of $1.80 is absolutely affordable when we consider that the household rate for the first 8 cubic metres is $2.48 per cubic metre.”

The Prime Minister disclosed to Parliament that there have been individuals violating the little-known Underground Water Act of 1951, which requires persons extracting water from private wells to seek permission before so doing and authorities will be taking action.

“It cannot be that a water-scarce country in the middle of a climate crisis continues to have people extract water from private wells without measurement and without payment.

‘Accordingly, my government intends to start a conversation with all persons who currently extract water from private wells to see how best we may appropriately regulate and enforce and have a determined price for access to this water while monitoring the rates of extraction as a water-scarce country,” Mottley said.

The Prime Minister stressed that for agriculture to be sustainable in Barbados, there must be access to affordable water, especially for small farmers.

That requires the precious resource to be available, she said, adding that that availability must be augmented through reducing the leakages experienced by the Barbados Water Authority; reclaiming water, for example at the South Coast sewerage project that is coming on stream; trapping water in catchments as far as possible; and expanding the use of desalination. (DP)