CONTRACTS for the Broadgate Water Supply in St Mary as well as the re-instatement of road surfaces in the Enfield and Lennox Bigwoods area of Westmoreland were signed at the Maxfield Avenue Offices of the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works last Wednesday.

The Broadgate Water Supply System will provide an adequate supply of potable water for more than 1,200 people in and around the Broadgate community. Provision will also be made for future expansion to serve an additional 650 persons in the areas of Richmond Castle and Margaret’s Hope.

The Broadgate Water System is broken up into four components. Component One comprises a 120-foot well which has already been drilled by Jamaica Wells and Services in the alluvial bank of the Wag Water River on the compound of the Mahoe Hill All Age School.

Component Two will see a 200 mm Ductile Iron Pumping Main being laid from the well site to the reservoir. From the reservoir, distribution mains will be laid to convey water by means of gravity to the service area. Cost of this contract is $14.2M and work will be carried out by Frederick Rodriques and Associates.

In Components 3 and 4, a Pumping Station and a Steel Reservoir will be constructed. The Pumping Station will be constructed at the well site at a cost of $3.54M. Tenders for its construction have been received and awaiting approval. The reservoir will be built at Mahoe Hill at a cost of $9.1M; tenders for its construction have also been received and awaiting approval. The entire project is expected to be completed by April 2007.

Meanwhile, a contract for just under $6.5M was also signed for the re-instatement of road surfaces in the Enfield and Lennox Bigwoods areas following pipe laying works which took place earlier this year. The contract has been awarded to Neville Diarim, who is expected to commence work within ten days of the signing of contracts. The project is scheduled to be completed before Christmas 2006.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Water and Works Minister Robert Pickersgill said that as minister responsible for the provision of potable water to citizens, he was proud of what had been accomplished.

“Currently, we have universal coverage in the Corporate Area and about 85 per cent for rural Jamaica and as far as ranking goes, Jamaica is ahead of the average for developing countries, ” he added.

The minister noted that unlike many other countries around the world, Jamaica has enough raw water available for use.

However, he said the “challenge was that this water is not always easily accessible or available all year round.”

It is against that background that the ministry and the National Water Commission work hand in hand to get water to citizens, he said.

He called on the residents of Broadgate and its surroundings to preserve the watershed areas which impact on the level of rainfall that the area receives.