Government is to spend some $5 million to rehabilitate the Beacon Hill water supply system in eastern St. Thomas.

This was disclosed by Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, following a tour of water supply facilities in eastern St. Thomas, last Wednesday.

Dr. Ferguson told JIS News that residents of the area had been without a regular supply for some time and the Government was committed to addressing the issue.

He said as their elected representative, he had a responsibility to make sure that potable water was made available to them.

The state minister added that rehabilitation of the Beacon Hill water supply system would benefit more than 250 households.

"Beacon Hill is the first project we will have to undertake. That is going to cost close to $5 million and is expected to start anytime now," Dr. Ferguson said.

Several water facilities were visited by Dr. Ferguson and a team of top engineers and officers from the National Water Commission (NWC) and Rural Water Resources Limited. These included Pear Tree, Spring Gardens, Quaw Hill, Wilmington and Amity Hall."My expectation is that over the next couple of months, there will be significant improvement in the water supply system in eastern St. Thomas," he told JIS News.

Dr. Ferguson said that there would be greater collaboration with several key agencies, including the Rural Water Supply Limited, the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and the NWC in relation to water supply systems across the country.