KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Government is advancing a long-term plan to develop a more interconnected national water supply network, allowing water to be transferred from areas with higher rainfall and stronger sources to regions facing rising demand and tighter supplies.

According to a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister on Thursday, the initiative will require sustained investment over several years, with major infrastructure works already underway in western Jamaica.

Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda said the strategy is focused on creating a more resilient system that can move water between regions based on availability and demand.

“What we’re doing out west now with the Western Resilience Water Programme, where we would have already started construction, is relaying the transmission mains from Martha Brae to the centre of Montego Bay in Terminal Reservoir and relaying the distribution mains from Great River all the way on the boundary of St James and Hanover, which will run all the way to the west end of Negril,” Samuda said.

The first phase of the Western Water Project represents an investment of US$170 million in transmission and distribution infrastructure. Construction is currently underway in communities including Coral Gardens and Lucea, where 24-inch and 36-inch ductile iron pipes are being installed.

The second phase is scheduled to begin early next year and will involve upgrades to the Martha Brae and Great River water treatment plants. The improvements are expected to add approximately 10 million gallons of water to the network.

A third phase will include constructing new treatment facilities at the Rio Bueno River and Roaring River in Savanna-la-Mar, increasing supply capacity by nearly 40 million gallons.

Samuda said the western network is being designed to allow water to move in multiple directions, improving reliability and creating the foundation for eventually supplying areas in central and eastern Jamaica.

“So we are interconnecting our systems certainly in the west, and that is the beginning of the process, because Martha Brae now will be able to supply sections of St Ann,” he said.

The minister stressed that achieving the Government’s broader water ambitions will require significant and sustained expenditure. More than $15 billion is being invested across government agencies in water infrastructure this year, representing more than 10 times the level of spending when the current administration took office in 2016.

However, Samuda acknowledged that the investment remains below what is needed to fully transform the sector. A World Bank-commissioned assessment estimated that Jamaica requires approximately US$5 billion over 10 years to meet its long-term water infrastructure objectives.

“This is a credible one, but an incredibly expensive one. And it will take years to get to that point, but I am happy that we have started in sections,” he said.

In the meantime, Minister Samuda said the Government intends to progressively increase investment while ensuring that projects are properly designed, financed and implemented, noting that the scale of the challenge reflects decades of underinvestment in critical water infrastructure.