Minister outlines plans for water distribution and production

By Aabigayle McIntosh

The official overseeing the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) has revealed an ambitious strategy for the organization to be capable of supplying a minimum of 12 million gallons of water by the conclusion of the first quarter in 2024.

Minister Melford Nicholas expressed his contentment with reaching this milestone, noting that while progress is being made, there are additional challenges, particularly in the distribution system.

To tackle this, solutions are in the pipeline with the impending collaboration of companies from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Trinidad and Tobago.

“I think we are back up to the levels of production that we were in June, July, and August. I think we have eight water treatment plants now 6 of which are arrow plants and the other two are the ground and surface water treatment plans, one in Bendals and the other in Delaps in Bethesda.”.

“So, when combined with those two that we have in Barbuda we have seven arrow plants in operation. We have now eclipsed seven million gallons per day and we are seeking to drive that up to 8 million by the end of that period,” Nicholas said.

He later stated that the system of distribution needs re-engineering.

Recently, the General Manager at the state-run facility Esworth Martin was asked by the Cabinet to proceed on pre-retirement leave.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the idea is to improve production and distribution and they will be appointing a young vibrant person to drive the process forward.

“I always believe that when you have a critical issue to manage, energy is important and from what I have seen Minister Nicholas and I have seen this person is vibrant and has the energy to drive the process forward.

Roger Tonge is currently the Interim Manager at APUA.

Meanwhile, the prime minister has officially signed off on a loan agreement for the re-piping process, however, they are still awaiting the disbursement of those funds.