The Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) signed a $1.9 million contract with BMH Company Ltd. (Bahamas Hot Mix) yesterday to put in place the infrastructure to deliver potable water to several homes on Crooked Island for the first time in the island’s history.
The island’s Chief Councillor David Daxon said during his address at the contract signing ceremony in Colonel Hill, Crooked Island, that the island’s residents look forward to the day they will no longer have to use “roadside pumps to carry water home in buckets or bottles on their heads”.
“They look forward to not having to experience the water coming to their homes rusted,” said Daxon. “They look forward to not having to experience the water being of a high salinity content. The access to a reliable potable supply of water is a universal right for all.”
WSC Executive Chairman Adrian Gibson told the residents who were at the contract signing ceremony that the government is committed to expanding the distribution of potable water to the entire island as quickly as possible.
However, the contract for this phase covers only four settlements: Colonel Hill, Church Grove, Cabbage Hill and Deans Hill.
The Crooked Island contract is part of the WSC’s water supply improvement project, which covers several islands and is being funded by a $28.3 million loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) with government counterpart funding of $13.3 million.
Gibson said the competitive proposals for the contract were reviewed by private Jamaica-based firm N.O. Whyte and Associates Ltd. under the strict qualifying criteria set out by the CDB.
Gibson added that residents throughout the Family Islands can be assured that the government is moving as quickly as it can to bring potable water to each island.
“The government is keenly aware of the needs in the Family Islands and we are currently formulating plans to address them,” he said.
“In the very near future, we will announce the start of the tendering process for Cat Island.”
By: Chester Robards
The Nassau Guardian
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