The Tribune

By Annelia Nixon

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The Prime Minister yesterday said a $7m deal with a BISX-listed firm for two new Cat Island reverse osmosis plants is part of a wider $190m investment in nationwide water and sanitation infrastructure.

Philip Davis KC, speaking as the agreement with Consolidated Water was signed, described it as “an historic day” for his home island and constituency. One desalination plant will be constructed at Bennett’s Harbour in the north, and the other at New Bight in Cat Island’s south.

Pledging that his government “means business.... for all our islands, the Prime Minister water production will begin at the New Bight reverse osmosis plant in April 2025 with September 2025 set as the target date for Bennett’s Harbour “pending environmental review”. He added that the upgrades will result in “high quality water” being provided to more than 1,100 Cat Island homes and businesses by September 2025.

Leon Lundy, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, who has Cabinet responsibility for the Water & Sewerage Corporation, added: “And each plant, with a daily capacity of 90,000 imperial gallons of desalinated water, will ensure a reliable supply of safe, clean water.

“With a 250,000 imperial gallon storage tank, wells and back-up generator systems, these facilities will not only provide day-to-day service but will also be resilient in times of our challenge of crisis, ensuring that the community’s water needs are met, no matter the circumstances.” Consolidated Water owns and operates the Blue Hills and Windsor plants that supply the Corporation’s New Providence needs.

“These latest works form part of a wider $190m-plus capital works programme, which will finally set right our nation’s public water and sanitation infrastructure,” Mr Davis said. He added that the Cat Island project is an addition to the infrastructure upgrades that began in 2016 when he was minister of works and utilities, as he criticised the former Minnis administration for halting the initiative.

“This agreement is a much-welcomed extension of the infrastructural upgrades I oversaw as the minister of works and utilities in 2016. At the time, $3m worth of funding from the Caribbean Development Bank was put toward the installation of 11 miles of new water mains and about 300 service connections,” Mr Davis said of his Cat Island constituency. 

“Now, after four years of stagnancy during the previous administration, this government is continuing the water upgrades to the ongoing Cat Island road paving and public infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) project.

“Already, we have allocated over $32m to install 95 miles of new water mains and 800 service connections in Cat Island. I am pleased to share that these works are well underway, with final completions slated for early 2026. I’m even more pleased to note that the PPP project is the largest single water supply project on any Family Island in the history of the corporation.”

Further blasting the prior administration, Mr Davis added: “Well, I’ve been representing Cat Island for more than two decades, but people have to know how many times I was in the position to do what I could do. I was in Opposition more than I was in government as representative of Cat Island.

“I could indicate everything I started in Cat island, and as soon as we [the PLP] lost, they stopped. For example, the same water programme that was started in 2016, we were able to arrange an $80m loan from the Caribbean Development Bank for Family Island water improvements. This is one of them. They stopped it and we’re picking it up now.”

Mr Davis added: “In addition, we are renovating and expanding 14 airports in our Family Islands. We are paving hundreds and hundreds of miles of roads, investing in energy and water solutions, and improving healthcare through renovations of Family Island clinics.

“This infrastructural development will be critical as we drive billions in private sector developments throughout our archipelago, unlocking the economic potential in each of our Family Islands.”