KINGSTON, Jamaica — President of the National Water Commission (NWC), Mark Barnett, says the agency will be spending more than $5 billion on major infrastructure development projects this year.

“We’re replacing two pipes on Ferry. We’re putting in sewers on Constant Spring Road and we are decommissioning about three to four mains on Constant Spring road to install one major transmission. We’re also installing new sewers and pipelines along Hagley Park Road,” he said, while speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’ yesterday.

Barnett pointed out that the Ferry transmission replacement will be completed by July 2019, and the Constant Spring Road and Hagley Park Road projects will be finished in the latter part of 2019.

“We are expecting that by summer, the major aspect of the construction activities as it relates to making road surfaces ‘driveable’ while installing the water pipes and sewers will be substantially completed on these major thoroughfares,” he said.

Barnett emphasised that the new pipes must be pressure tested to avoid leakages after the roadwork is completed.

“With respect to these major infrastructure development projects, there is a greater level of collaboration between the National Works Agency (NWA) and the NWC. What we have done is to ensure that wherever the NWA is doing major projects, we are there with them. Where the roads are being widened and rehabilitated, we ensure that the pipelines, especially water pipelines, are being replaced and upgraded,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Barnett said despite the frequency of broken pipes and disruption in water supply faced by NWC customers, the agency remains hopeful that the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) rate review will be favourable.

— JIS