MORE than 1,600 residents in Aberdeen, St Elizabeth, are now set to benefit from the development of a new state-of-the-art water pumping station.

Work for the facility was executed by Rural Water Supply Limited and is set to provide residents with more than 80,000 gallons of potable water on a daily basis.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Desmond McKenzie, who commissioned the new station, called the development a “first”.

“This is a historical day because it is the first hybrid and largest solar pumping station in the country. This is a first so it has significance, and a community of over sixteen hundred persons and its environs will benefit significantly from this,” Minister McKenzie said.

The $110-million project saw the construction of the pumping station being inclusive of solar power generation that works in conjunction with power from the country’s main utility provider, JPS; two storage tanks with a combined capacity of 50,000 gallons; and the installation of new distribution and transmission pipelines.

The pumping station, which will be managed by National Water Commission, was welcomed by residents who braved the rain to watch the ceremonial opening of the facility. They shared that prior to this development they would have to depend on the rain or buy water from trucks.

“I think it’s a good thing and I’m very grateful for it, for the water. Yeah, we are grateful and glad for it,” said Taskia Martin.

McKenzie urged the residents and the municipal corporation to protect the investment.

“This project must be protected for the benefit of the people because the people have suffered for too long,” he said.

He also urged residents to pay their bills, highlighting that the water isn’t free and its provision comes at a cost.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth North Eastern, Delroy Slowley declared that he will be providing the first 50 applicants for the service with half of their connection fee.

“In making sure that a number of persons get on the system, what I have done on my own initiative is to offer 50 per cent partnership with the first 50 persons that connect to the system, because we really want to encourage persons to connect properly. This is a huge outlay of capital cost and we have to have proper return on investment,” the MP said.

After the 2020 General Election Rural Water Supply Limited was placed under the purview of the local government ministry, and McKenzie shared that there is more work to come.

“This project is an important one. The component of the work that is scheduled for this year under rural development will total over some $325 million that has been allocated to bring water to six parishes — St Catherine, St Ann, Clarendon, St Elizabeth, Portland, and St James,” he said.

This, he explained, forms part of a greater plan to provide water to the 27 per cent of Jamaicans who still have no access to the commodity.