Jamaica advances US$77mn water treatment plant

Jamaican officials signed the contract to start construction on a US$77mn water treatment plant in Content, which will supply Kingston, Portmore and Spanish Town and become Jamaica’s second biggest.

“[The contract is] followed by a 23-year period of operation by the private partners, after which ownership of the plant will be transferred to [national water commission] NWC. The PPP arrangement may also be renewed for an additional five years,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, according to a press release.

He added that water consumption in Kingston, Portmore and Spanish Town has increased nearly four times during the last 50 years, and NWC is required to supply nearly 55mn gallons per day (208Ml/d). The new plant will be able to transfer 15mn gallons.

“[The order of] the execution stage is first raising the financing, the designing and construction of the plant and then the commissioning of the plant to produce potable water. [Then we will] start the operation and maintenance,” Timothée Delebarre, a representative of utility Rio Cobre Water, said.