IRWIN, Montego Bay — —Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator Matthew Samuda has promised that work to provide steady water supply to the residents of Irwin, St James, will be completed by December.

He was speaking on Monday during a tour of emergency works on the Fairfield Road where sections of the asbestos cement and cast iron pipeline, which supply water to several communities in the area, is being replaced.

“You will get the water from us as a Christmas gift, and you will get the roadworks completed as a new year’s gift, madam MP [Member of Parliament for St James West Central Marlene Malahoo Forte] so that the citizens will certainly benefit from quality infrastructure,” said Samuda.

It has been discovered that the pipe lines have numerous cracks and leaks which have led to potholes and even sink holes in the community, and Samuda said this should have been remedied long ago.

“The commencement of works [include] the laying of two-kilometre ductile iron pipes which are replacing old collapsed pipes made of asbestos. These pipes were obviously meant to be changed many decades ago,” said Samuda.

“However, we now have the financial capacity and space to do this project, so the work behind us will cost some $47 million and pipes have been pulled from the NWC stores of pipes which would carry the value of the project to somewhere above $70 million when complete,” added Samuda.

The work, which is now underway, is expected to benefit residents of Fairfield Irwin, the recently developed housing development of Cashew Grove and Tucker Avenue.

“This project will benefit some 9,000 residents in west central St James, and we expect between 2,000 and 3,000 customers to benefit,” added Samuda.

He highlighted that an important part of the development will be the rehabilitation of the corresponding roadway as soon as the pipeline works are done.

“The NWA [National Works Agency] has already completed the procurement of the roadworks where the pipes are being laid, and once this is completed, within three months that work will start. The contractor has already been approved and contract work is complete,” Samuda said while not providing the specifics for that scope of work.

This development was welcome news for Malahoo Forte who joined Samuda on the tour.

“What you are seeing here in the ground is the result of many years of representation for improvement to the infrastructure of the Irwin belt,” Malahoo Forte told members of the media.

She used the opportunity to call for patience from residents who are facing serious challenges with water and the road

“I have to ask the constituents to continue to be patient. I know it has been a frustrating time — the condition of the road, the disruption in the supply of water — but this is work to improve the conditions; it’s work in progress,” said Malahoo Forte as she explained that the roads could not have been repaired until the water issues were addressed.

“The constituents and I have been in constant dialogue about the work, and I’ve said to you it makes no sense for us to start the rehabilitation of the road until and unless the pipes have been replaced,” emphasised Malahoo Forte.

In the meantime, Samuda announced that more work is coming to ensure that residents in the rest of St James will be able to access a potable water supply on a more reliable basis.

“I know I have been here and commissioned already two tanks for Minister Malahoo Forte, and we have seven other major community tanks right through the interior of St James that are in varying stages of procurement that will increase storage by some three and a half million gallons in St James,” said Samuda.

“Further, I expect to be here with the Honourable Prime Minister [Andrew Holness] in a few weeks in southern St James to break ground on $750 million of pipe work in southern St James,” added Samuda.

He also also announced that work on the transmission lines from Martha Brae in Trelawny to Negril should begin by the end of this year.

“Martha Brae all the way to West End of the western most parish, Westmoreland, will see upgrades of its transmission mains, starting at the end of this year going over about 18 to 24 months — depending on the construction time. That project will see investment of a US$160 million,” added Samuda.