This was stated by Works and Utilities Minster Bradley Roberts on Thursday.
His comments came after he introduced the corporationﾴs new management team, led by General Manager Abraham Butler.
Minister Roberts said that the new barge is needed given that the corporation continues to lose a significant amount of water through such things as leaking pipes.
“With 50 percent of water going back into the ground or being lost, that means you are losing 50 percent of your revenues,” Minister Roberts told the government corporation top-level executives at a press conference held at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel.
The water loss percentage has remained high for years, notwithstanding the fact that the corporation has invested considerable sums in trying to address the problem, he noted.
However, Minister Roberts pointed out that other Caribbean countries like Jamaica and Barbados experience a water loss level of 60 percent or higher.
Daily intermittent water cuts are unpreventable as there is insufficient water to meet the population’s demands, he said.
“We are in a serious period of no rainfall which impacts upon the availability of the corporation to provide water,ﾔ Minister Roberts added.
Inclement weather, he noted, negatively impacts water being barged out from Andros to New Providence. Other islands that provide water sources are Grand Bahama and Abaco.
“There is an ongoing exercise to address the problem of demand for water here on the island of New Providence through reverse osmosis,” Minister Roberts said.
“There is also a proposal that we are considering for an underwater pipeline from Andros to New Providence. Those are the two major areas that we are considering to address the potable water problems.ﾔ
The Bahamas is reportedly facing “looming challenges” linked to water supply and distribution, particularly here in New Providence with its growing population and ever-increasing consumer demand.
The corporation’s management team is looking for the best option to provide the Bahamian people with reliable service, the Minister said.
“One such optionﾅis that of commercializing the operations of the Water and Sewerage Corporation, with the focus being on the application of creative measures to resolve revenue shortfalls while improving water quality and productivity,” Minister Roberts explained.
He described the new management team as “visionary”, and having the best of the corporation’s technical and business expertise.
Their mandate is to improve water production and quality, create an effective distribution system while focusing on creative measures to enhance revenue growth and collection.
Mr. Butler previously served as the corporation’s Board of Directors Chairman for two years.
Other members of the executive management team are Godfrey Sherman, deputy general manager; Glen Laville, acting deputy general manager of system operations and control; Elwood Donaldson, financial controller; and Daphne Simmons, senior assistant general manager of human resources, employee relations, training and industrial relations.
It was also announced that Robert Deal is the new assistant general manager of Internal Control and Compliance; and Philip Beneby is the assistant general manager of Business Development.
Minister Roberts also paid tribute to the interim management team.
“I am mindful of the fact that a debt of gratitude is due to Mr. Godfrey Sherman and his team who, as interim management, had quite capably kept the corporation operating over the past four years in the face of great challenges,” he said, “not least of which being the lack of an officially appointed management team together with the corporation’s heavy reliance on government subsidy to maintain adequate water supply, especially in the Family Islands.”
ﾠMr. Butler expressed his delight over the appointment.
“My main objective as general manager is to develop a productive team in order to have well established, proactive approaches to solving problems and making decisions for the benefit of all of our shareholders,” he said.
Prime Minister Perry Christie is expected to soon announce the next Chairman of the Water and Sewerage Corporation.
Tosheena Blair, The Bahama Journal
