Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Robert Pickersgill, says ongoing work by the National Water Commission (NWC) in the Kingston Metropolitan and Portmore areas should result in residents in Portmore experiencing greater reliability in their water service.

Pickersgill made this announcement during his 2012-13 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House on Tuesday

Speaking under the theme 'Partnering for Sustainable Deve-lopment', the minister said the ministry is targeting water lock-offs to ensure a more predictable and reliable supply system.

For Portmore, Pickersgill reported that 10 kilometres of 750mm diameter pipes would be laid beginning in September. This would provide an additional six million gallons of water per day to the municipality. The pipes are slated to arrive in the island by mid-August.

"The citizens of the Kingston and St Andrew Metropolitan Area and the Portmore Municipality should witness greater reliability in their water service, greater coverage in these areas, and water at a consistent pressure," Pickersgill said.

He reported that the NWC was working on the rehabilitation of the Mona and Hope Treatment plants as part of the Kingston Water and Sanitation Project. This is estimated to cost $1.6 billion and is scheduled to be completed within the next 12 months.

The minister promised that residents of Stony Hill and surrounding communities should expect to see improvements in their water supply by Christmas.

Alleviating water woes

Pickersgill said that under the Jamaica Water Supply Improvement Project, the National Water Commission was carrying out physical work at a cost of $818 million in the Stony Hill area. The work is aimed at alleviating water woes for the residents of Sherbourne Heights, Wireless Station Road, Kingswood, and sections of Mannings Hill.

"The laying of pipes started on July 16 and will end in a very happy Christmas for the residents of the communities mentioned," the minister said. He added that all the funding was in place for the project and all the approvals had been obtained.

The minister also reported that work, costing $614.1 million, on the Darling Street Pumping Station in downtown Kingston was ongoing. This project is expected to be completed within the next 18 months.