The price tag to change out the close to 3 000 kilometres of aged water mains across the island could easily exceed $2.6 billion.
This was disclosed by Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Tuesday night, as she listened to the concerns of residents during the St Andrew Speaks town hall meeting at the Alleyne School.
With residents of the rural parish expressing concern about frequent water outages and hours of dry taps, Mottley gave the assurance that an investigation would be done and corrective measures put in place soon.
One of the main causes of the water outages was identified as burst mains.
Mottley explained that many pipes in the island were more than 100 years old and badly in need of replacement. She said while the replacement had started under the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) Strategic Mains Replacement Programme, it was a costly exercise that would take some time to cover the entire island.
“This is the point we have been making from St Lucy right back through to St Philip – a lot of the pipes that we are depending on were put down not even in the last century but the century before. And Barbados, irrespective of the fact that we are so small, it is [about] 2 600 kilometres of pipe. To do all of that will cost a minimum of about $2.6 billion,” said Mottley.
Government has already successfully negotiated several millions of dollars in funding for the mains replacement project, with several kilometres of water mains already replaced in some parishes.
Mottley said the mains replacement project, which started several years ago, could last another 15 years, noting that it has to be done carefully and in association with other utility companies.
“Then think about the fact that you can’t dig up every road at the same time. So whether you like it or not, this is a 10 to 15-year exercise in order to be able to replace pipes that were put down, in many instances, more than a century ago. That is why you see every time we are doing major roads and road repairs, we ask for the coordination between the utilities companies, in particular the Water Authority and MTW [Ministry of Transport and Works,” explained Mottley.
She gave the assurance that once Cabinet received the report on the water situation in White Hill, St Andrew, a position would be taken on the next move.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources Santia Bradshaw indicated that some mains replacement had commenced in St Andrew but there was “still a lot more to be done” and it would take some time.
“I think at every Parish Speaks the same thing is said, which is that we have mains that have to be replaced that are over 100 years old. It isn’t something that we can do overnight and we keep reiterating it, but we know there is obviously the inconvenience that comes from us not being able to replace it as quickly as people would like,” she said.
Bradshaw suggested that BWA officials identify the breaks in the system in the area and see whether residents who were having persistent water challenges could be given water tanks as a temporary solution.
“If you can share that information with us, we will have the officers investigate,” she promised.
Member of Parliament for St Andrew Dr Romel Springer explained that low water pressure could be as a result of difficulties in pumping water uphill from the Castle Grant Reservoir, which serves part of the hilly White Hill community.
“So, whenever there is a drop in pressure there and bursts in the system, the person at the top would be impacted,” he said.
He said most people at the height of White Hill were already issued with water tanks under the BWA water tank programme because of the known challenge of low water pressure.
Springer also used the occasion to update residents on road repairs, following complaints of slow work. He noted that of the roadways on which major repairs started several months ago, Shorey Village was completed while the Ermy Bourne Highway was “almost finished”.
As for the highly published White Hill road repairs, Springer said those should continue after a family residing in a house in the way is relocated by the end of next week.
“There are also a number of other roads that we have earmarked to start very soon,” he said.
Springer also suggested that the delay in road repairs over the past several months was as a result of rainy conditions.
“It is very difficult to work in the Scotland District during the rainy season, almost impossible in some cases. We have seen evidence of the impact of rain and land slippage when it comes to work,” he said.
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