Published 8 September 2023
Basseterre
Buckie Got It, St Kitts Nevis News Source
GOVERNMENT INVESTING HEAVILY TO ADDRESS THE LONGSTANDING ISSUE OF WATER SHORTAGE IN CAYON AND OTHER COMMUNITIES
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, September 08, 2023 (SKNIS) – The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis continues to invest the necessary resources to bring a resolution to the longstanding water challenges faced by residents of several communities, including the old water problem in Cayon.
This was the message brought by Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew during a “Let’s Talk Water” town hall meeting, hosted by the St. Kitts Water Services Department on Thursday, September 7, 2023.
Attendees at the Town Hall Meeting
“We have invested heavily with BEAD; we have invested heavily with the tanks that are coming and the next thing … is that we have gone into desalination; that’s where we take salt water from the sea and turn it into fresh water so that you can drink,” Prime Minister Dr. Drew said.
The initial results of the drilling in Cayon by Bedrock Exploration Development Technologies (BEAD) St. Kitts Ltd. show that the well can produce between seven hundred thousand and a million gallons of water per day.
“When I thought it would have taken months for them to reach water, they drilled and they reached water much sooner than we expected and you saw the water coming from the ground, and they found more water in Cayon than expected as well. They have done one study of the water and the water is shown to be drinkable water or what we call potable water,” Prime Minister Dr. Drew said, noting that further in-depth testing is still being carried out.
However, the drilling of the well is only one part of the Government’s overall plan, as Prime Minister Dr. Drew stated that his administration is taking a multipronged approach to addressing the problem.
“We are dealing with this matter from three perspectives: one, drilling, and in less than a year we have found water; two, to deliver those large storage tanks for you so that when there is no water and the water truck comes you can store large amounts of water; and three, we are turning the sea water into fresh water so that we can help the situation with water delivery for the people here in St. Kitts and Nevis. In all of this, we have invested millions because we are determined to make sure that every citizen in St. Kitts and Nevis has potable water and we want that to be 24/7,” Dr. Drew said.
He added, “I believe that water should be available for all citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis 24/7, meaning if you get up at 1 o’clock in the morning you should have water, you come home from work you should have potable water wherever you live in Cayon. This is a basic need.”
In addition to the plans for the construction of a two-million-gallon capacity desalination plant, the Government also engaged Royal Utilities, the company that provides desalinated water to the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, to provide 400,000 gallons of water per day to the country’s systems.
