NWC operations take $10 billion hit from Hurricane Melissa

 

Water Minister Matthew Samuda says the financial impact of Hurricane Melissa on the operations of the National Water Commission is expected to exceed $10 billion.

 

Mr. Samuda says the estimate covers damage, disruption, lost revenue, reduced collections and the cost of relief and restoration. 

 

He says Cabinet has been apprised of all the issues facing the NWC and has already received a restoration and relief plan. 

 

"That plan includes clearing access to sites, temporary repairs to raw water, transmission and distribution pipelines, installation of standpipes in communities without electric power where the water treatment plants in the area have power, trucking of water, both through the Water Commission's own trucks and through Members of Parliament and in the municipalities, office building repairs, purchase and rental of standby generators. This first phase of our restoration plan will cost $3.25 billion," he announced.

 

Mr. Samuda, who was speaking Thursday at the special media briefing at Jamaica House, added that over the next four to six months another $6.9 billion will be spent on the other phases of the NWC's recovery plan on items that cannot be procured using the emergency methodology.

 

 

Meanwhile, the minister reported that 130,000 NWC customers remain without water.

 

However, he said 76 per cent of customers have already had their supply restored. 

 

"It's important that this distinction is also made because the NWC supplies 78% of households in Jamaica. The next 12%, give or take, is supplied by small municipal systems which also have their own electricity challenges, and a suite of small private systems that exist virtually in every direction. I think that also needs to be understood. So, of the 78% of households, 76% of those households, customers, businesses, 76% of those persons have restored water," Mr. Samuda pointed out. 

 

He explained that the restoration of water is closely tied to electricity supply from the Jamaica Public Service, adding that customers should expect their service to return within 12 to 36 hours after power is restored in their communities.

 

Through continued collaboration with JPS , Mr. Samuda said he expects 85 per cent restoration of water within the next three days.

 

In the meantime, the Water Minister said most coastal plains have regained service, as those systems were easier to bring back online.

 

"Because many of those systems allow for distribution through gravity fed distribution systems, the plains. If you live in an elevated area still awaiting power, it is unlikely that you would have water at this stage. Now, we have deployed over 45 rented generators thus far, in addition to the 30-plus that the NWC used to operate its treatment plants and indeed some of its larger distribution systems. But as we did mention, there are 760-plus systems, which in many cases, many of them are very small and they do not have generators," he noted.