KINGSTON, Jamaica -The long talked about Rio Cobre Treatment Plant project will commence during 2024 under a public-private partnership arrangement costing US$77 million.

Once completed, the plant will provide an additional 15.5 million gallons of water daily to the Kingston Metropolitan Area, effectively ending the need for water lock offs in the dry season in Kingston, St Andrew and Portmore.

Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen said this is part of the Government’s unrelenting quest to increase the water footprint with the overarching goal of achieving universal access by 2030.

He was speaking Thursday as he delivered the 2024 Throne Speech at Gordon House.

According to the governor-general, 200,000 Jamaicans islandwide benefited from water improvement projects in 2023/24 at a cost of $4 billion.

“In the financial year 2024/2025, twenty-one additional water supply upgrading and expansion projects are planned with a projected expenditure of over J$2.5 billion,” he said.

Meanwhile, the governor-general said the government continues to prioritise safeguarding environmental assets and moving forward with its commitment to declare 30 per cent of the island’s coastal, marine, and terrestrial areas as protected areas. To this end, the Protected Areas Regulations under the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act were gazetted in 2023 and the Protected Areas Policy will be finalised in the financial year 2024/25, with work commencing on the promulgation of an omnibus Protected Areas legislation.