The President of the National Water Commission (NWC), Mark Barnett at the company’s first quarterly press briefing today, addressed ongoing infrastructure work across the island and the challenges the company has been experiencing following the recent heavy rains.
He also pointed out that while the company has been making strides in restoration works, the company has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The president says over the period march to the end of October, the NWC has lost upwards of $2 billion in revenue.
Barnett says this is a manifestation of the country’s aged infrastructure and one of the things the NWC has to ensure is how to renew them.
He also highlights that reinstatement work in the proximity of the Patrick Drive and Washington Boulevard intersection is scheduled to be completed by November 6, 2020. This follows damage to the transmission main.
Additionally, he says the NWC is working on 44 water supplies and 13 waste water projects island wide, most of which are at varying degrees of completion.
However, there’s a challenge. Mark Barnett emphasizes that like many businesses in Jamaica, the NWC has not been spared from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, he says the company’s COVID-19 assistance programme which ended on the 31st of august, is unlikely to be extended.
Barnett notes that the company is now looking to ensure that its cash flow returns as close as possible to where it was prior to the pandemic.
