More time needed for critical repairs at pumping station

Households and businesses affected by emergency repairs at the Belle Pumping Station will have to wait another day or two until the risk of outages is totally averted, as emergency repairs have taken longer than anticipated.

And Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called on the more than 30,000 residents potentially facing heavy water-supply disruptions to be patient as the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) adopts an all-hands-on-deck approach to the issue.

In a statement that followed the Prime Minister’s tour of the station – on which about a third of the country relies – with Senior Minister Dr William Duguid and other officials from the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources, on Monday she maintained that the over 100-year-old cast iron structure at the pumping station needed to be replaced as a matter of urgency.

“We ask the public of Barbados to be patient with us because what we’re doing is replacing aging infrastructure that is older than all of us and to that extent, therefore, it is essential that we do it also from an occupational health and safety perspective,” said Mottley moments after being briefed by the BWA’s top brass.

“We hope that we can do what we have to do here because we couldn’t take any further delays in ensuring that we deal with this matter, because if that pump fell in through that platform, then we would be losing a pump and we would be using far more time than two or three days,” she added.

News of the emergency surfaced on Sunday when BWA general manager Keithroy Halliday held a press conference at the pumping station. At the time, he said the repairs to a critical section of infrastructure in danger of collapsing were expected to be finished on Monday.

However, on Monday evening, Halliday told Barbados TODAY crews were still trying to finish the first of two phases of the critical work since an additional safety platform was needed to complete the replacement of several mains.

He said there had been outages at Rockley and Rendezvous in Christ Church but for the most part, the BWA was able to continue its service since pumping had continued, albeit at a reduced rate.

Director of Engineering Charles Leslie explained that BWA crews had underestimated the “level of corrosion and the sophistication and the detail of the structure” in place.

He said having overcome the preliminary challenges, the work could proceed full steam ahead, but it could be another 24 to 48 hours until the network is fully recharged.

“We have taken a bit longer than anticipated, but we’re trying to do the work as safely as we can, and still get it done as efficiently as we can,” said Leslie.

According to a Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS) statement, the private contractor assisting the BWA Anstie Greenidge believes the work will be completed by Tuesday.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb