Matthew Town, INAGUA – After many years of being short-changed on a vital life necessity, Inaguans can expect a continuous supply of water with the commissioning of a reverse osmosis purification plant on the island within the next few weeks.
This, according to island representative, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, V. Alfred Gray, who was present on the island on Thursday for the commissioning of a “temporary” clinic and groundbreaking for a mini-hospital.
It is expected that Prime Minister Perry Christie and other Cabinet Ministers will be on hand for the water-system commissioning ceremony.
“The community of Inagua has been without potable water for many years. It is unfortunate that the pipes were laid in the ground some ten years ago, but I didn’t think the former government had the political will to go through with the process for whatever reason,” Minister Gray said.
He said that during the election campaign, he promised island residents that potable water would be among the first things to be delivered. “I am very proud to say that the water is now running. People have water in their houses and certainly when we commission it, it will be a red-letter day for the residents of this very quaint community,” said the representative of the five-island constituency of Mayaguana, Inagua, Crooked Island, Acklins and Long Cay (MICAL).
The reverse osmosis plant produces some 400,000 gallons of water per day, far exceeding the 150,000 gallons required by the residents on a daily basis. According to the minister, the plant can produce up to 1 million gallons per day, if need be.
Minister Gray said that he will drink the first glass of water as a part of the commissioning ceremony.
“This has been long in coming,” he said. “We are very excited about the possibility that once the water gets running, the touristic developments will begin to take place. We are looking forward to great things in Inagua in the not-too-distant future.”
Acknowledging that the island’s biggest problem is a lack of job opportunities, Minister Gray announced that the government is presently engaged in talks with two major investors, one of whom is willing to spend millions of dollars on a fish-farm development.
“I am not able to announce the date for anything at the moment,” he said, but, “I do know that we are talking, the talks are going very well. And I believe by God’s help we should be able to formally announce at least one of them this year.”
He said that the government is actively trying to find Bahamians and non-Bahamians to invest in the MICAL constituency, as all of the islands need to be developed.
With the commissioning of the water system, in addition to the electricity and telephone systems already in place, he said, Inagua can look forward to great things happening.
“Investments ought not to be pegged to foreign investors only,” Mr. Gray advocated. “I think Bahamians need to also seek to invest in their country. While I am seeking to bring in foreign investment, it is my hope that those who hail from these islands, particularly in Inagua, will find it possible, and perhaps even see it as a necessity to come back and start small businesses.
“You don’t have to start with a major multi-million dollar investment. An investment of any kind is an investment, and if every businessman in Nassau who comes from Inagua starts a business to employ two people and you bring 50 of those businesses to Inagua you have 100 people employed,” he said.
“I am just going to continue to encourage and invite those who are from Inagua to come back home, whilst I do my best to woo foreign investment into the island,” Minister Gray said.
He also pointed to the fact that Inagua skirts the sea lane of maritime traffic from the Caribbean to the Americas. “At the moment we have cruise ships stopping here at least once per month. I believe that given the nearness of the island to the sea traffic lane we might be able to encourage several ships to stop once per month. And if every ship brings 1,500 to 2,000 passengers, you would not even want to imagine what kind of economic impact that would have,” he said.
“I also believe that Inagua has the best fertile circumstances for eco-tourism,” Minister Gray said. “We have the breeding ground for the flamingoes. And I believe that people would travel from around the world just to see the habitat and the place where the world-famous flamingoes are in the greatest numbers in the world.”
Also, he continued, “We have the donkeys. I don’t believe some Canadians and Americans have ever seen donkeys. But some of us have only seen it on picture, and I say this is the island where you can almost touch them, and walk with them and ride them. And that can be part of our eco-tourism thrust.”
With proper management and promotion, Mr. Gray suggested, Inagua could become the economic capital for the Southeastern Bahamas.
By Keva Lightbourne, The Nassau Guardian
