NaRRA examining major water infrastructure to address drought

The National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) is examining major water infrastructure projects following meetings with Minister Matthew Samuda along with his team from the Ministry of Water, Environment and Climate Change and the National Water Commission (NWC).

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NaRRA, Major General (Ret’d), Ambassador Antony Anderson, made the disclosure in a Special Interview with Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Chief Executive Officer, Giovanni Dennis, at Vernamfield on September 30.

Current drought conditions bring into sharp focus the need to increase storage capacity for Kingston and St Andrew as well as other areas across the country.

Ambassador Anderson said the Hermitage Dam, which is about 100 years old, was designed to serve a much smaller population and development footprint than exists in the Corporate Area today.

“The catchment area for that dam was designed not for Kingston and St Andrew as we know it, but for what existed then with a margin to take care of expansion but not expansion of this sort,” he noted.

He explained that NaRRA is considering whether constructing another dam and increasing the catchment area would provide a suitable long-term solution, noting that technical studies will be necessary before a final determination is made.

He said the authority is expected to undertake the technical work once its Programme Management Office is fully operational.

In the meantime, Ambassador Anderson said discussions are taking place on smaller community and cluster-level projects that could be implemented more quickly to help mitigate the effects of the drought.

He indicated that these could include large community water-storage tanks, while noting that the details would be announced when the projects mature.

Beyond water, Ambassador Anderson said NaRRA will also be looking at sewerage infrastructure in areas such as downtown Kingston, recognising that inadequate sewage facilities could limit the potential for redevelopment and the construction of major above-ground facilities.

Ambassador Anderson said NaRRA's role is to work alongside the relevant ministries and agencies to determine how major projects can be delivered quickly, transparently and to the required standard.

He said the authority's focus will be on large-scale, national-level infrastructure, while existing ministries, departments and agencies continue implementing their respective recovery and development programmes.

- JIS

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