FOR the 2022/23 fiscal year, National Water Commission (NWC) will continue efforts to improve the aged infrastructure and expand the coverage of its network across the island to enhance service delivery and ensure revenue sustainability.

Its capital programme will include the continuation of the Spanish Town Road mains replacement project, which has been identified as one of the projects required to increase the distribution of water in Kingston.

Focus will also be placed on the Port Royal distribution main replacement and sewage treatment plant, which is required to support the development plans for Port Royal.

This information is contained in the 2022/23 Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, which was tabled recently in the House of Representatives.

The document also noted that effective metering, billing, and collection are of paramount importance to the sustainability of the NWC’s operations.

“Accordingly, the replacement of aged meters, metering of unmetered accounts, and the installation of more accurate meters will continue during the year. In this regard, $3.5 billion is earmarked for its metering programme. Approximately 50,000 meters are targeted for installation during the 2022/23 financial year,” the document said.

Meanwhile, in recognition of the importance of technology in the improvement of operational efficiency, the NWC will continue the digitisation and modernisation of its operations by strengthening the capacity of its information and communications technology infrastructure to improve efficiencies and ensure business continuity.

In addition, the NWC plans to reduce energy consumption from non-renewable energy sources by two per cent from an average consumption of 17,152-megawatt hours (MWh) to 16,809 MWh.