Trinidad and Tobago say it is negotiating a multi-million-dollar loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the water and wastewater sector.
Public Utilities Minister, Marvin Gonzales, speaking at the commissioning ceremony for the San Fernando Wastewater Treatment Plant, said negotiations are continuing and hopefully by the end of this month the first component of the loan facility will be made available to the Keith Rowley administration.
He said the first component is estimated at US$80 million to support the transformation of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and to undertake critical investment projects to stabilize and improve the water supplies in the country.
“An envelope of US$315 million to be invested in the water and wastewater sector in Trinidad and Tobago,” he told the ceremony, reiterating that under the first component of the loan, the government would be undertaking “three critical pieces of work to turn around the water section in Trinidad and Tobago”.
He said US$44 million will be used to finance the development of a comprehensive program to urgently stabilize water services to prevent further decline throughout the country and improve water supply.
“We are going to purchase six to eight modular water treatment plants to be deployed in strategic areas across Trinidad and Tobago,” he said, noting that two of the plants will bring to the grid over ten million gallons of water for residents in the northern section of the island. He said this will also result in a 24/7 provision of water to the area.
Gonzales said government is also looking to construct a five-million-gallon water plant for the residents in the southeastern area with the government diverting the current supply of water to the people of San Fernando.
He said another modular plant will be established in Santa Cruz, a town that lies between the hills of the Northern Range in Trinidad.
The minister said the second component of the loan will be focused on transforming WASA and providing support for institutional capacity.
He said the third component of US$31 million will be used for network optimization, noting that over the last 15 years “we have not focused enough on network optimization and the funds will be spent on priority projects, reduce non-revenue water, and executed through a co-management performance contract with a specialized consulting firm working with the IDB.
“This would allow for the seamless transfer of know-how and expertise to WASA that is crucial to the long-term sustainability and the success of the program,” Gonzales said, adding that the government has already executed with the IDB last year for US$800,000 towards “financing infrastructural interventions including water audits”.
CMC/
