…Govt. pomises to address situation
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - CITIZENS and residents of St. Kitts continue to be plagued by the water situation, and the Government has promised to have the situation rectified.
Residents in some areas on St. Kitts were already seeing reduced water supply during several periods of the day; more specifically, in the evening hours. Now, other areas are also expected to see reduced levels in the coming days.
The St. Kitts Water Services Department in a media statement issued last on Wednesday evening (Dec. 14), advised residents in Basseterre, Bird Rock, Shadwell, Frigate Bay and South East Peninsula that due to the “extremely low levels of the reservoirs we are currently shutting down at approximately 7:00 p.m.”.
It further advised that some residents might lose water before the shutdown time due to extreme low levels of the reservoirs.
Because the issue is one that has been long standing, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Government has sought to have the issue addressed in 2023 by provisioning allocations for same in the budget.
During his presentation of the estimates, Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew alluded the current water woes to climate change, noting that “we cannot achieve water security without addressing the issues of climate change” in order to meet the growing demands.
He pointed to St. Peter’s, which is described as one of the fastest growing areas of the Federation, that continues to be plagued by water shortage issues.
Drew told the Parliament that the problem in that area was temporarily resolved by replacing the pump to the main well which became inoperable.
“Unfortunately, this is only a temporary fix as there is still a greater issue of water availability in the area. Similar to the situation in other Caribbean islands, the water security issues have compounded to a point where we can no longer turn a blind eye,” Dr. Drew acknowledged.
Additionally, the people of Cayon have been plagued by water woes for more than three years, but drilling on the well in that area is expected to begin sometime in 2023.
According to Prime Minister Drew, they are seeking to ensure the problem in that area is resolved.
“Madam Speaker, we are determined to resolve the water issues confronting us. This is the impetus for our Government to re-engage Bedrock Exploration Development Technologies (BEAD), a company that has provided well drilling services to the Federation since 2007. The initial engagement is for BEAD to conduct drilling and produce potable water in two communities - Cayon and Basseterre (Shadwell), where water shortage has been severe for several years,” disclosed Drew.
Preparatory work for mobilization of the drilling commenced in November 2022 and in January 2023 the actual drilling of the wells will begin in Cayon, where the water shortage issue has entered a critical stage, Dr. Drew said.
“I assure the residents of Cayon that this new Labour Administration will not make empty promises to deliver water but will work towards securing the water resources needed to address your water shortage issues. After exploration has been finalized in Cayon, BEAD will begin drilling activities in Shadwell which will address the water issues in Basseterre and St. Peter’s. It is envisioned that the drilling will provide approximately 1.2 million gallons of potable water per day to the system,” Dr. Drew continued.
The Government is optimistic that based on the success rate of the works done by BEAD, they could seek to extend the drilling in the coming year to other villages around the island in order to build the resilience of the water system.
