EDITOR’S NOTE: Towards the end of February, #InfrastruCaribe featured Caribbean water and sewage infrastructure in our edition 2021-03-05. In this newsletter, we do the same. This commences a new series on utilities in the Caribbean. Three locations are covered, namely: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VC), Jamaica (JM), and Guyana (GY). Jamaica has one of our five articles. Both remaining locations have two apiece.
Our headline, taken from TeleSUR English, reads: “Volcanic Eruption Leaves St. Vincent Without Clean Water”. La Soufrière Volcano on the island erupted last Friday, and according to Stephane Dujarric — UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) — it has left the population without clean water and electricity.
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the UN have mobilized water and hygiene supplies, pre-positioned in Barbados. And, the St. Vincent and the Grenadine’s Central Water and Sewerage Authority is gradually restoring water supplies or supplying water to several affected residents.
In Guyana, their National Drainage and Irrigation Authority advises that city drainage capacity in Georgetown has been boosted with installation of three addition pumps, purchased under an Indian Line of Credit. The pumps will alleviate major flooding problems in the city. A total of 12 additional pumps had been purchased.
Otherwise, Guyana Water Incorporated is replacing over seven kilometers of transmission and distribution pipelines which are over 60 years old, under the Sheriff/Mandela road expansion project. Finally, the Jamaican government is implementing its long-term water strategy to address recurrent inadequate supply during times of drought.