PM Browne comments on the state of Water Infrastructure in the Caribbean

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has given some insight into some of the water infrastructural problems that are plaguing not only the nation, but a major Caribbean subregion. Speaking on his weekly Pointe FM radio show, the PM laid bare the facts.

“We have a piping infrastructural problem within the entire English-speaking Caribbean. This applies to Barbados, Jamaica – you name it”, Browne said. “Since those pipes were actually laid – probably about 100 years ago – they have not been replaced. All countries – certainly English speaking Caribbean countries – will find themselves having to re-pipe.”

Prime Minister Browne commented on how this problem becomes especially relevant due to the government’s dual initiative of laying new roads and making water infrastructure upgrades.

“So what is happening now, as we keep increasing the amount of water through reverse osmosis water, and with all that pressure – the pipes keep bursting. Now the problem is, you don’t know when and where a pipe is gonna burst.”

Browne refers to the frustrating practice of having to dig up a newly laid road in order to fix a break in the aging water pipes.

“Just on Redcliffe Street, Public Works went in there and ‘Barber-Greene’ the road, because they were trying to spruce up St. John’s. ‘Barber-Greene’ the road – next thing, BOOM”, said Browne.

As Browne pilots the country’s island-wide road repair program, deeply entrenched infrastructural problems are being uncovered – problems that must be addressed if any long-lasting successes in development are to be gained. These deficiencies, according to the Prime Minister, highlight the common need among English-speaking Caribbean countries to upgrade systems that are – by now – several decades old.