Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 17, 2016 (SKNIS): Authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis expect that the water woes that have gripped the twin-island federation due to an extended dry spell across much of the Caribbean region will continue to be alleviated because of a small increase in rainfall and the drilling of new wells.
“Rainfall amounts for 2016 have not been significantly higher than 2015,” Minister of Public Infrastructure, Honourable Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd, said on Tuesday (August 16) at the fourth in a series of town hall meetings dubbed “Discussions for Prosperity.”
“But in the meanwhile, we have managed to discontinue rationing from Old Road in the West via St. Pauls to Ottley’s in the East.”
New pipes were laid in Mansion to bring relief to the Phillips and Lodge communities providing about 150,000 gallons of water.
The minister gave a commitment that the water rationing is over in those areas. Minister Liburd added that rationing continues for select areas, particularly those at higher elevations such as Upper St. Peters and Cayon that rely on surface water. However, the shortages in St. Peters are expected to improve shortly.
“We have requested proposals for the supply of a drill rig. We intend to drill some seven sample wells out of which it is expected that we’ll find two wells to produce 1 million gallons of water right from here in Ogees so, your problems will be solved shortly,” Minister Liburd promised.
“We want to thank the people in St. Peters, as well as the people in Basseterre and all over the country for their high tolerance level because I can’t recall ever that we had to ration water, and if so, for such a long period since August 2015.”
Minister Liburd thanked the Republic of China (Taiwan) for its ongoing support in this field. He also praised the crews at the Water Services Department for their hard work.