WESTERN BUREAU — The Government plans to establish a new licensing regime in the next legislative year, under the new Water Supply and Sewerage Services Act, which will remove the power of granting licences for water and sewerage projects from the National Water Commission (NWC).

“We are going to amend the NWC Act so that the NWC, which is a provider of water, will no longer have the power to decide to whom licences should be granted,” Prime Minister P J Patterson said Friday.

He added that the licensing regime would apply to both private and public sector providers.

The prime minister was speaking in Sandy Bay, Hanover at the ground-breaking ceremony for the US$39-million Great River/Lucea Water Supply System.

Patterson told the gathering that he was expecting the co-operation of all members of parliament, to take the Bill through the next legislative cycle.

The Bill, he said, is intended to give the private sector a legitimate role in the water sector with the appropriate regulatory controls to ensure high quality service and fair tariffs.

The private sector factored in the financing of the Great River/Lucea Water Supply project, which is jointly funded by BNP-Paribas of France, the National Commercial Bank and Pan Caribbean Financial Services of Jamaica. Additional financing was provided by the French pipe manufacturing firm, Pont-A-Mousson.

Of the total cost of the project, the local financial sector provided US$18-million.

Patterson said he was very pleased that contractors of the project, SOGEA/SATOM, responded to the Government’s plea for its involvement in the project, which is expected to be completed in another 18 months.

The project involves the laying of 22 kilometers of pipeline from the Great River Treatment Plant to the town of Lucea. Water from the project will also be supplied to a number of pumping stations in Hanover.

It is estimated that the project will supply at least five million gallons of water on a daily basis.