KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — National Water Commission (NWC) President, Mark Barnett, says the agency is looking to secure funding to execute several projects geared towards boosting water supplies in the Kingston Metropolitan Region (KMR), at an estimated cost of US$100 million.

Speaking at a press conference at the NWC’s Corporate Office in New Kingston on Friday, Barnett said the works include replacement of pipelines running from Six Miles along Spanish Town Road to Marescaux Road; along Washington Boulevard and Dunrobin Avenue up to Constant Spring Road; from Stanton Terrace to Marescaux Road; and from Ferry across Plantation Heights to Red Hills, for which designs have been completed.

“We hope that during the 2019/20 financial year, we will be able to tie down the financing, so that, at least, by now and 2020/2021, those systems can be in service. If we are going to improve the resiliency and reliability of service in Kingston, they must be replaced,” the President emphasised.

Water supplied across Kingston and St Andrew has, within recent months, averaged 40 million gallons per day.

This, according to Barnett, is a significant fall in the output consequent on a range of factors, including road improvement works now under way in the Corporate Area and St Catherine.

Meanwhile, Barnett disclosed plans for the construction of an additional 15- million gallon water-treatment plant adjacent to the Rio Cobre River in St Catherine, as part of efforts to further boost supplies to Kingston, St Andrew, Greater Spanish Town and the Portmore communities in south east St Catherine.

There is also the replacement of the 18-inch pipeline, situated 35 feet underground, between the Ferry Police Station and the Washington Boulevard/Spanish Town Road intersection that channelled some six million gallons of water daily prior to sections of the line suffering breaks, This is expected to be completed by April 2019.