Multimillion-dollar St Mary water project gets under way

Mason Hall, St Mary:

Thousands of residents living in Mason, St Mary, are poised to receive potable water for the very first time in December, after pipe laying works undertaken by the National Water Commission (NWC) in partnership with Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL) commenced last week.

On Thursday, Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio, and a team from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, as well as Western St Mary Member of Parliament Robert Montague, representatives from the NWC and personnel from RWSL, were present to witness the pipe-laying initiative.

“This is following on a commitment of Mason Hall to commence a long-touted water distribution storage and lift project,” commented Samuda.

“This is a significant expansion in the distribution network of the National Water Commission, which will benefit several thousand residents here. This project is being undertaken in partnership between the National Water Commission and RWSL. A lot of the works are being done internally by the Water Commission. This represents in excess of $170 million of investment and, as you see, it’s not an empty commitment, it is a commitment coming to life that the citizens are very happy for.”

According to Samuda, there are many components to the project, which he said is being done on a phased basis. He pointed out that the total Mason Hall distribution system will require in excess of J$1 billion. He noted that the project is a part of the Caribbean Development Bank-funded initiative, which is aimed at assisting rural communities to connect ahead of Vision 2030.

“Practically, what that means is that we have started the process of rolling out the works to ensure that Mason Hall gets water. Water they deserve and water that has been committed to them by their Government on multiple occasions previously. I am happy to be the minister that has actually broken ground and commenced the works,” Samuda concluded.

Montague, who was pleased with the commencement of work, lauded the effort of the water minister for what he described as a commitment made and honoured over a short period of time and which, according to him, is a clear indication that effort is being made to provide potable water to the residents in the shortest possible time.

DEEP APPRECIATION

“On behalf of the citizens of Mason Hall, who have been waiting and waiting, I express my deepest appreciation to the minister,” Montague said.

“The citizens of Mason Hall are anxious. They have seen ground broken, they have seen pipes bought, they have seen commitments made, [and] they have gone to many functions to launch this project. But it has taken the gentleman, who we call ‘the Water Boss’, Mr Samuda, who came here in May, had a community meeting, then came back in July just after Beryl [Hurricane Beryl] to have the groundbreaking, and he is back here today to lay pipes,” Montague added.

Montague declared that almost 3,000 residents in the wider community of Mason Hall will benefit from this water project, which is phase one. He noted that the residents have committed to paying their bills on a timely basis and that the community is grateful, but that they will be happier just before Christmas when Minister Samuda has committed to return to Mason Hall to turn on the water system, which he said will be the time when the people of Mason Hall will really believe.

The genesis of the water project reportedly started back in 2007 when it was committed. However, after a 17-year delay, the project has finally got off the ground, much to the delight of several residents including 75-year-old Joshua Mills, who stated that he has never had the luxury of having piped water running in his house.

In the meantime, Phillippa Campbell-Francis, acting vice president of operations at the NWC, stated that she was familiar with the project from its conceptualisation through to now, which, according to her, is a very expensive undertaking that took some time to get started.

Campbell-Francis said it was a pleasure to witness the start to the actual work and that the partnership with RWSL was an awesome initiative which she said would guarantee success, and would pave the way for residents to have piped water in their homes come December.

For his part, Audley Thompson of Rural Water stated that he was very pleased that the project has started, while adding that RWSL is supporting NWC in ensuring that water is delivered to the citizens by December.

editorial@gleanerjm.com