The National Water Commission (NWC) has selected the French company VINCI Construction Grands Projets to implement phase one of the Western Water Resilience Programme to improve the island’s climate resilience.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness launched phase one of the programme in Davis Pen, Trelawny, on July 4, 2025, noting then that the entire project will cost the country $67.5 billion or EUR144 million. However, he estimated that expenditure on the first phase will amount to US$176.22 million or Jamaican $28 billion.

The programme will involve significant upgrades to pipeline systems and transmission conveyance infrastructure stretching from the Queen of Spain/New Martha Brae Water Treatment Plant system in Trelawny through St James to Negril, Westmoreland.

According to a release from VINCI, “This investment plan seeks to renovate and develop the drinking water network in the north-west of the country, where demographic growth is high, and both the tourism and manufacturing industries are expanding. It falls within a wider programme implemented by the Jamaican Government to mitigate the impact of droughts in order to bolster the island’s climate resilience by safeguarding the long-term future of the water supply network and reducing water loss.”

VINCI will design and build 68 kilometres of wide cast-iron pipeline. The work extends over nearly 130 kilometres, along an existing roadway and crossing several sensitive structures and zones. It is scheduled to last 36 months and mobilise over 100 people.

Major Towns such as Savannah-la-mar, Negril, Montego Bay, Falmouth, Runaway Bay, St Ann’s Bay and Ocho Rios will benefit from the project. There will also be beneficiaries in small townships, including Little London, Green Island, Lucea, Sandy Bay, Hopewell, Reading, Ironshore, Coral Gardens, Rose Hall, Lilliput, Greenwood, Salt Marsh, Duncans, Rio Bueno, Discovery Bay, Priory and Mammee Bay.

The materials used for the programme will further improve the network’s durability, with an expected useful life exceeding 50 years. The work will be carried out in close collaboration with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) to ensure the protection of natural habitats, especially when crossing rivers. Having operated in Jamaica since 1999, VINCI Construction Grands Projets is supporting the NWC to develop effective infrastructure for drinking water and wastewater treatment.

In 2025, VINCI’s teams participated in emergency repair work to restore drinking water to Montego Bay after Hurricane Melissa’s passage. They are currently working on a project for the third-largest drinking water treatment plant in Jamaica, at Rio Cobre in St Catherine.

“With this project, we’re not only building infrastructure; we are truly building resilience, opportunity, and a stronger and better future for the people of Jamaica,” VINCI Country Manager Timothe Delebarre shared at the launch of Phase One in July 2025.

NWC Chairman Michael Shaw added: “This massive multi-phase Western Resilience Water Project will not only modernise and transform much of our infrastructure in western parishes but will add some 35 million gallons of additional water capacity islandwide. This, in total, is about an 18 per cent increase.”