Improved access to water supply for Westmoreland communities

Hundreds of residents of communities in Westmoreland are to see improvement in access to water supply.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Desmond McKenzie, said that come September, the Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL) will commence the rehabilitation and upgrading of the storage system in Ashton.

“This is a catchment tank in the community and it is expected that over 600 persons within that community will benefit from this upgrading of the water system at a cost of $10 million,” he said, noting that the project is expected to be completed in November.

McKenzie was addressing a disaster preparedness town hall meeting hosted by the Ministry at the Whitehall Community Centre in Westmoreland on July 14.

Over in Moreland Hill, he said that water tanks will be installed in the community while the Ministry explores a major project, working with the RWSL and the National Water Commission (NWC), to bring water to the area.

“It is going to take some time but on a short-term basis, we are going to be installing in Moreland Hill, 10 water tanks that will carry 2,000 gallons of water to that community until we have completed the major work that is required,” the local government minister noted.

He also shared that the trucking of water to Westmoreland communities will commence shortly, emphasising that this is free of cost.

The Ministry's work to improve water supply in Westmoreland has been ongoing, with the completion of a water harvesting system at the Bath Mountain Primary School at a cost of $4.6 million, which also serves the surrounding community.

The Content and Little Bay primary schools have also benefitted from water system improvements to benefit their respective communities at a cost of $10 million.

- JIS News

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