Vaz lobbies for alleviation of water woes in Portland

Member of Parliament for West Portland Daryl Vaz says he continues to lobby for water availability in the parish.

His statement follows protests in communities by residents over a lack of water and dust nuisance from road works taking place.  

Vaz, at a press conference on Wednesday, stated that $10 million was spent to truck water to residents throughout the parish between January and April and another $10 million has been projected to be spent between May and June. 

However, he argued that this is neither cost-effective nor impactful. 

He wants the authorities to do more for residents.

“What is important for me is that the municipal corporation and the [National] Water Commission take policy decisions, that is to serve the entire community. In a drought such as this, you cannot be discriminatory in terms of being able to serve only…paying customers because you are not satisfying the demand of the water,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda, outlined that significant investment totalling $800 million has been made in water infrastructure in Portland as part of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project.

Additionally, he said the Government will in the next fiscal year commence a $3.9 billion upgrade of the Grants Level Well in Portland.

He also shared that bids for the $20 million pump procurement for the Mount Pleasant system are expected to be on the table next week, noting that it will take two months to be installed.

And stating that the wells at the Sherwood Forest system have been impacted by the drought, the Minister disclosed that a $12 million study to identify additional water sources is under way.

Once the study is completed and licences issued by the Water Resources Authority, the Government will commence development of wells in the area at a cost of $30 million. 

Samuda also announced that a new source of water has been identified in the Fairy Hill division, which will provide 300,000 gallons a day, seven days a week. 

“We're not taking for granted that while [all] this work is taking place people can do without water,” he added, noting that in the interim, water is being trucked to affected areas.

In the meantime, Vaz appealed to the National Water Commission to increase its public education so residents can be better aware of water trucking and when piped water will be available in their communities.

And while acknowledging that the road works taking place have been a source of frustration for residents, Vaz criticised the contractor and the National Works Agency (NWA) for what he describes as inadequate supervision. 

“For the level of money that is being spent, I openly say that the supervision of these road works is unacceptable not because of the quality of work but unacceptable because of the maintenance of the temporary roads and the dust nuisance,” he said. 

Forty-three kilometres of road work is to be completed in Portland at a cost of $10 billion as part of the highway project.

The work is being undertaken in three phases; phase one has already been completed, phase two is expected to be completed in October, and the final phase by the end of 2024. 

According to Vaz, following representations made to the NWA, the entity is to immediately begin oiling roads to address the dust problem in communities.

“There seems to be some sort of a confusion or mix-up where an MP often get the blame for things that they have no control over. We lobby for better infrastructure but we have no control over the implementation and supervision of such,” he said. 

- Sashana Small 

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