By FAY SIMMONS 

Tribune Business Reporter 

jsimmons@ tribunemedia.net

THE Water and Sewerage Company (WSC) yesterday said the utitity is working to improve its service to Eleuthera residents.

In a statement, WSC acknowledged the frustrations of Eleuthera residents who have suffered through a series of water and electricity outages in recent months and said it is “working closely” with Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) to ensure “reliable power supply to our many systems which are highly dependent on consistent power supply”.

Yesterday, Harbour Island residents held a protest about their electricity and water woes, demanding consistent utility service in Eleuthera.

WSC said they have heard the “very vocal concerns” of residents and is monitoring all of their platforms to “urgently resolve all complaints”.

“The Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) observed the very vocal concerns expressed by residents of Harbour Island yesterday and we continue to closely monitor our Eleuthera Hotline WhatsApp group, our various social media platforms and all publicly available platforms to track the concerns of our valued customers and to seek to urgently resolve all complaints,” said WSC.

“As shared previously, the combination of ageing, very fragile public infrastructure systems, challenging water production contractual arrangements and the rapid increase in the demand for water supply post COVID-19 has severely impacted there liability of our water supply systems across Eleuthera and the corporation, with the support of the government, is now working assiduously to address these many challenges step by step.”

“The reality however is that while some works have been completed, substantial works are now in progress and further works are being defined to eliminate any weak linkages in our water production, storage, transmission and distribution systems. Residents in some parts of Eleuthera have experienced some incremental improvements already and further incremental improvements will continue across the island as these various works are completed and commissioned.”

WSC outlined several projects that have been completed to improve service including the installation of generators at desalination plants and the transfer station as well as the installation of water tanks.

The utility said the 200,000 imperial-gallon steel tank in Harbour Island is leaking and they have awarded a contract for two new 250,000 imperial-gallon glass coated steel tanks to be commissioned.

“At Harbour Island, the old 200,000 imperial gallon steel tank is leaking and works are in progress to urgently replace that tank. A contract has been awarded for two new 250,000 imperial gallons each glass coated steel tanks,” said the WSC statement.

“The first tank is substantially completed and the pipework contract pre-construction meeting is scheduled for tomorrow. The materials are on site and we expect works to commence shortly. Once this first tank is commissioned, the existing tank will be demolished and the second tank constructed on that site given the very limited land availability.”

WSC noted that $7m of “intensive works” are in progress to increase water storage throughout Eleuthera including repairing leaks and acquiring new tanks at the Bogue and Naval Base plants.

They said a leak in the Tarpum Bay tank will be assessed for repair and they will address the storage tanks that require “urgent repair and maintenance works” at Waterford during contract negotiations with the contractor.

“The Waterford (South Eleuthera) storage tank requires urgent repair and maintenance works and these will be addressed as part of our ongoing negotiations with the desalination contractor regarding the future of this facility.” said WSC.

“As part of the recently commenced Road Paving Public Private Partnership (PPP), a $30+ million component is included to address water transmission and distribution mains. The scope of works includes the installation of 49.8 miles of water mains across seven different locations on island.”

Other projects slated for Eleuthera include a new naval base pumping station; North Eleuthera pumping and transmission assessment; additional desalinated water production for Central Eleuthera; new deep supply well for Bogue facility; exploring increased sustainable groundwater production and additional technical support.

WSC is engaged in a $190m plus capital works programme aimed at improving water supply throughout the Bahamas.

“These recently completed and ongoing works outlined above are part of a much larger $190 million plus capital works programme, the largest in the history of the corporation, aimed at bringing about transformative improvements to the water and sanitation sector across all of Eleuthera and indeed throughout The Bahamas over the next several years,” said WSC.