Prime Minister's Statement on the Status of Water in Kingston and St. Andrew

Mr. Speaker, we have heard the cries of homeowners and business operators within the Corporate Area and sections of St. Catherine bemoaning the fact that they have not enjoyed a regular or sufficient supply of potable water to their pipes, in recent weeks and in some instances, months. As you know Mr Speaker, I am faced with the issues first-hand as my Constituency is one that consistently suffers from the lack of a reliable supply of potable water. We understand the great level of frustration and inconvenience this has caused in affected households and places of business and we appreciate the patience and understanding being experienced by residents. Mr. Speaker, the Kingston Metropolitan Area receives its supply from four main sources – Ground water wells located at the foothills around the city. ie. Beverly Hills/Long Mountain and Red Hills/Chancery Hall The Hermitage Dam which supplies the Constant Spring and Seaview Water Treatment Plants Yallahs and Hope Rivers which serves Mona Reservoir and both the Hope and Mona Water Treatment Plants and the Rio Cobre/WhiteMall system which complements previously named supply sources. Mr Speaker, the NWC is required to supply an average of 55 million gallons of water per day (mgd) to Kingston and St. Andrew (KSA), and this increases to over 60 mgd during the dry season. On average, the dry season lasts a combined 8 months of the year.   KSA Water Supply Systems Mr Speaker the NWC total installed water production capacity for KSA is 63 mgd, however current production levels from these systems are; Constant Spring Water Treatment Plant (8 mgd out of 18 million gallons per day) Mona Water Treatment Plant (8.4 mgd out of 16 million gallons per day) Hope Water Treatment Plant (3.5 mgd out of 7 million gallons per day) Seaview Water Treatment Plant (2.6 million gallons per day), the only facility producing at full capacity Wells sources (Havendale, Forest Hills, Chancery Hall, Beverly Hills, Rennock Lodge and Camp Wells producing 7 mgd. In addition, Mr Speaker NWC is only able to transfer limited water through the Rio Cobre and Ferry systems at 6.1 mgd due to the challenges with those transmission mains These low outputs are a direct result of the; Low river flows from the Yallahs and Hope Rivers into the Mona Reservoir Low river flows from the Morsham, Ginger, Wag Water and Bore Rivers up to Hermitage   Limited ability to transfer water from St. Catherine due to the very fragile Rio Cobre Transmission main that runs along Spanish Town Road Under the current water production conditions, only approximately 35 mgd is available for distribution in KSA representing a shortfall of approximately 26 mgd of installed capacity. Under extreme drought conditions, as occurred in 2012 and 2013, this shortfall could even be greater.  Mr Speaker when we compared our situation last year at this time both the Mona Reservoir and the Hermitage Dam were at full capacity of 809mg and 400mg respectively, when compared to levels as at today of 27.4% and 33.1 % of their respective capacities. Mr Speaker, the Government is seized of the impact of the current water situation on all aspects of the country’s development and is very aware that if immediate and urgent action is not taken; the shortfall is expected to worsen.  Additional water production capacity has to be established. Mr. Speaker, as we are all aware, the NWC is presently facing grave challenges in maintaining the desired level of supplies to its various customers in Kingston and St. Andrew. The issues are multi-faceted and affect various aspects of its operations, including supply, storage levels and distribution. Some of these Mr Speaker include: The very aged and fragile 33” Rio Cobre transmission main along Spanish Town Road that limits movement of an additional 5 mgd into the KSA which would improve supply in Western St. Andrew, South St. Andrew, West Kingston all the way to East Kingston and Port Royal. The plan is to continue the replacement of this main which had commenced in 2009 where 19km were already replaced between Tulloch Spring and Ferry. The current work will see the replacement of 1.4 km from Ferry to Six Miles.  Note that this work entails two pipes; an 18 inches and 36 inches NWC had to take out four treated water storage cells with combined storage of (2.3 mg) at its Constant Spring Water Treatment Plant as the roof had collapsed. An emergency was declared to have this rebuilt and return the facility back into operations within 27 weeks. The major Infrastructure Works in the Corporate Area has caused disruptions, however these works are moving into their final stages. Notwithstanding Mr. Speaker we are replacing and improving the transmission mains on all these road corridors to serve future water needs Mr Speaker, it is a well-known fact that under the previous JLP administration, then Water Minister Dr Horace Chang started a comprehensive programme to improve availability and reliability of the water supply systems serving the Corporate Area; however this programme was not followed through by the present Opposition when they took office back then Mr Speaker, if that programme had continued we would have seen the completion of the replacement of the Rio Cobre Transmission main from Ferry to North Street  and the completion of the Transmission Main along Washington Boulevard to Constant Spring Road, which would accommodate increased transfers from Rio Cobre and White Marl. Set out in the figure below is a schematic of major elements of the water system in the corporate area. In addition, there are wells located in sections of KSA. Mr Speaker, the plan for meeting our future water needs consists of key components which includes major transmission mains replacement and upgrading, Non- Revenue Water (NRW) reduction, but more importantly increasing water production through the construction of a 15 mgd water treatment plant on the Rio Cobre.  Requirement for Water Supply Improvements Mr Speaker, major improvements are required immediately for the KSA Water Supply System, the total expenditure required Mr Speaker is estimated at US$ 160M these include: A. Stanton Terrace to Marescaux Road. The installation of 2.7 kilometres of 400 mm (16 inches) diameter ductile iron pipeline from Stanton Terrace to Marescaux Road, replacing the old Cast Iron pipes at an estimated cost of US$12M.  The design for this pipeline is completed.   B. Kings House to West Kings House Road/Constant Spring The installation of 3.0 kilometre of 400 mm (16 inches) transmission mains from Kings House gate (East Kings House Road) to West Kings House Road at its intersection with Constant Spring Road. This will strengthen the flexibility of supplying areas that are mainly supplied by the Constant Spring Water Treatment Plant with water from the Mona Water Treatment Plant. This is estimated to cost US$12M   C. Norman Manley Airport Road (by round-about) to Port Royal The very old 7-inch diameter pipeline between the Norman Manley Airport round-about to Port Royal is in a very bad condition and is leaking. This main has to be upgraded to increase the carrying capacity to Port Royal to support the planned developments there. It is planned to install about 10 kilometres of 300mm (12 inches) pipeline at a cost of approximately US$15M.   D. Seaview to Jack’s Hill The pipeline that transfers water from the Seaview Water Treatment Plant to serve the upper sections of Jack’s Hill, such as Jubba Spring, Sunset Avenue, Tavistock Heights and Skyline Drive, is in urgent need of replacement. It is planned to install a 250mm (10 inches) diameter pipeline at a cost of US$5M. E. Six Miles to North Street Installation of 12.0Km of varying sizes (600mm (24 inches) to 900mm (36 inches)) of Ductile Iron transmission mains that traverse along Spanish town road to Glenmore road. This will increase transfer capacity and flexibility within the system. F. Six Miles to Constant Spring Road Installation of 5 kilometres of 600 mm (24 inches) diameter transmission mains along Washington Boulevard to allow from improves capacity and flexibility in water distribution. G.  Content Water Treatment Plant at Rio Cobre. Mr. Speaker, the National Water Commission (NWC) is pursuing the installation of a new 15 million gallon per day (mgd) water treatment plant to supply an additional 20% of current production levels of water to the Kingston and St. Andrew Area (KSA), as well as to Portmore using the Rio Cobre River.  This new plant will be established under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement, with the private entity being responsible to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain this plant and to sell water to NWC. The total cost to develop the project and construct the new water treatment plant is estimated at US$60M or J$7.77 Billion.   Rio Cobre Water Treatment Plant Government Action Mr. Speaker, I can advise this Honourable House of the following actions that are being taken to address the current water crisis and avoid the repeat of this situation in the future. The Public Investment Management Committee (PIMC) has approved the 15 mgd water treatment plant to be established at Content on the Rio Cobre under a government paid Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.  The NWC, the Cabinet Appointed Enterprise Team along with the Private Sector Consortium is mandated to complete all negotiations within 45 days. At the end construction is expected to commence later this year for a period of 24 months. The current estimated price Mr Speaker is US$60M. Mr Speaker, I also wish to advise this House that this project is contiguous on the divestment of the Central Wastewater Treatment Company (CWTC) which owns the Soapberry Wastewater Treatment Plant.   The NWC has been directed to make appropriate arrangements to give effect to the declaration of an emergency to facilitate the earliest possible replacement of the existing pipelines along Spanish Town Road. The Spanish Town Road to North Street Pipeline will comprise: Connection to the 900mm (36 inches) ductile iron (DI) that is now being constructed parallel to a section of the Mandela Highway, at Six Miles. 6.1 kilometres of 900mm (36 inches) diameter ductile iron pipeline along Spanish Town Road from Six Miles to Waltham Park Road intersection. 4 kilometres of 600mm (24 inches) diameter DI pipeline from Waltham Park Road, along Spanish Town Road and Beeston Street. Connection of the 600 mm (24 inches) pipeline to the existing 525mm (21inches) pipeline at the intersection of North Street and Blake Road. In addition, 2.3 km of 200mm (8 inches) diameter and 1.9 km of 150mm (6 inches) diameter distribution pipelines will be installed along Spanish Town Road, on either side of the dual carriageway. It is estimated that the cost to construct the Spanish Town Road to Glenmore Road Pipeline is US$35M, with a further US$25M for secondary transmission and distribution mains improvements. The total cost comprises of: Cost of pipes and appurtenances: US$18 M Cost to install pipeline:                              US$12M Other Costs:                                               US$ 5 M Secondary transmission /distribution upgrades:                              US$25 M TOTAL COSTS:                                 US$60 M               Water Supply Resources Improvement Mr Speaker the immediate actions now being taken by the Government including movement of water between different systems; use of interim pipes, trucking of water and distribution of tanks to householders help to reduce the recurring water crisis during the traditional dry periods. Mr Speaker the truth is Climate Change is real and we are seeing the effects of this. Therefore, Mr Speaker, our action as a Government is to ensure there is adequacy and reliability of supplies but more importantly we must ensure there is resiliency. To this end Mr. Speaker the NWC has been directed to commence the review that would give rise to the expansion of raw water storage and increased availability of raw water, by examining the following: Increasing the capacity of the Hermitage Reservoir to allow for increased storage during the rainy periods Review for implementation Phase II of the Yallahs Water Supply System. This includes assessing the possibilities of; accessing water from the Swift river from the Portland side of the mountain range as well as providing additional storage at Mahogany Vale (Importantly in consideration of these initiatives we want to also explore generating hydro energy). Explore other groundwater extraction possibilities from the eastern St. Andrew/St. Thomas mountain ranges. Conclusion Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that a significant group of people are being impacted by the current water situation. The government does recognize this and through the NWC and the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation is working diligently to bring real relief to the people not just for the short term but in the long run. We are nearing completion of the water works along both Hagley Park Road and Constant Spring Road. Once finished, we will see upgraded transmission mains and a more reliable system of distribution in the areas. We are hoping that the traditional secondary rainy season will, in fact, be that and that we will be blessed with increased levels of rainfall in the catchment areas. We are not just hoping for rainfall, but for this to happen in the areas that will benefit our storage facilities. Mr. Speaker with the works now underway, we are building the resilience of our water infrastructure. We are hoping that when the heavens do open and the rains come, we will be in a better position to save this precious resource and to improve the conditions of our people. We also urge persons to conserve where possible as this too will help in these difficult times. I thank you!