KINGSTOWN – General manager of Central Water and Sewage Authority (CWSA), Garth Saunders said the situation with the supply of water in volcano-hit St Vincent continued to improve.
Water has been a scarce commodity in the island following the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano last Friday, with ashfall contaminating major supply reservoirs, lakes, rivers and streams.
“Our situation is getting better,” he said on the Face-to-Face talk show in conversation with Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves on NBC Radio. “We are now on a more solid road to recovery in terms of restoring the water supply system.
“Apart from the four systems that are in the (danger) zone (around the volcano) – the four systems being Owia, Sandy Bay, Fancy and Hermitage – the water supply systems are generally back on and currently up to about 70 per cent.”
Saunders said the water supply situation will stabilise further when the CWSA crews complete work on three other systems in the orange (alert) zone.
He said getting the water supply systems in Jennings, Hermitage and Perseverance back on were critical to success and significantly easing the water crisis currently being experienced in the island.
“Once we get in, there is a lot of cleaning to do. The trees along the access road have to be cut and moved out of the way, so we can get in and have the system restored.
“The Perseverance system we will leave for last because that is in the (danger) zone, but we will do our best to get that back on.”
Saunders said the CWSA supplied water scarce communities using tankers and they benefitted from donations from local and foreign suppliers, including the Barbados Water Authority, which sent a consignment of bottled water with soldiers from the Barbados Defence Force.
“Bottled water is essential to the relief effort at this time,” he said. “…but we know people will still need running water for hygenic reasons”.
Saunders said the Dallaway water distribution system, the biggest in the country, serving around 40 per cent of the population in the green (safe) zone, was restored and residents would see improved supply steadily.
“The CWSA staff continues the work every day and all night to get the water systems back up and running,” he said. “We just hope the public understands what it is we are doing.
“We are doing a number of makeshift measures and we are also trying to restore the more permanent systems as well. It is a varied approach, but we are doing what we can in the shortest possible time. We are consolidating what we have restored so far.”
Saunders said the CWSA also benefitted from assistance of water quality testing kits from the World Health Organisation and Pan American Health Organisation. (AR)
