US$3 billion needed to achieve water resilience in Jamaica, says Samuda
/ Our Today
administrator
Senator Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, says Jamaica must raise US$3 billion to deal with water infrastructure, to achieve resilience by 2030.
Noting the unpredictability of weather patterns due to the combined effects of climate change and the onset of the El Niño weather phenomenon, Samuda argued that it is critical that the country strengthen its water infrastructure.
“The network has to be our critical focus over the next couple of years… . It [assists in building our] climate resilience,” he said. Minister Samuda, who has responsibility for Water, Environment and Climate
Change, was addressing the commissioning ceremony for water projects in the Clarendon southeastern constituency on Thursday (July 20).
He also toured Portland Cottage, Rocky Point, Shearer’s Heights, Mineral Heights, and Salt River in the area.
Senator Samuda said over the past year, the country has seen some of the most severe drought conditions.
He noted that October 2022 to March 2023 cumulatively was the driest six-month period for that time of the year ever in Jamaica.
“Even though some of the drought has been broken in some parts of the country, it has not been sufficient to restore the usual water levels in your aquifers, in your wells, and in some of your rivers, which is why we’re so focused on the distribution (network). Our climate has changed. The weather patterns have shifted. It makes the predictability of our rainfall that much more difficult,” he explained.
Anticipating that these conditions are likely to persist or worsen over time, the de facto minister said the Government has been executing a consolidated, planned approach to building the resilience of the country’s distribution network.
“If you look right across the length and breadth of this country, we have been investing in increasing storage, increasing processing capacity and significant investment in increasing our distribution capacity,” Minister Samuda said.
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