Bridgetown.
Over a $ billion is needed by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) to complete a mains replacement programme across Barbados.
For several years the BWA has lost thousands of gallons of water because of leaking mains, later this year its major mains replacement programme is expected to start.
Until then, the Government will looking to the oceans to eventually provide this water-scarce country with an alternative to the current woes caused by a drought, which has seen Barbadians from the rich and the famous living in luxurious villas at Sandy Lane on the West Coast of the island, to the ordinary man in the rual areas of St Thomas suffering water shortages or low water pressure since last Friday.
Communications Specialist with the BWA Joy Ann Haigh for the past four days has been urging Barbadians not to panic, members of the public are becoming frustrated as they wake each morning to dry taps.
Minister of Water Resource Management Dr David Estwick yesterday noted that he empathized with the BWA in the face of its recent problems.
“What you have to realize is that in some instances we were dealing with water pipes and mains which are over 100 years old. It would be impossible for the BWA to predict when that type of equipment would go faulty,” Estwick said.
"We have started to replace all of the old mains in Barbados but it will take sometime and a billion dollars to replace all of them", Estwick told the media.
He said Government had entered into a multi million dollar agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to roll out its mains replacement programme by July this year.
The Minister acknowledge that there was little the BWA could do due drought apart from shutting off pumping during non peak usage hours.
"We are already pumping at our maximum. Any reduction in precipitation, as we have now will reduce the water levels to much lower than normal and that is what is happening now", he explained.
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